Mayluna by Kelley McNeil | Book Review

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Title & Author: Mayluna by Kelley McNeil 

My rating: 5/5

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Publication date: 1st February 2024

Blurb:

In the 1990s, Carter Wills was the lead singer of the English alt-rock band Mayluna, securing his place among music legends. His tortured-heart lyrics struck a chord. And so did his secret connection to a woman whose love changed all their lives. Who was she?

Evie Waters’s two grown children discover an iconic photo in an old magazine of a “mystery girl” with Carter: their mother. It all started in a wistful time and place for Evie, her twenty-fifth summer. A young columnist forging her career. Backstage euphoria. A long-shot interview. And an almost cosmic connection with an enigmatic musician on the rise.

What happened between them is a hidden story no one, not even Evie’s family, knows. Until now. Worlds apart, Carter and Evie finally reveal the story—joyful, regretful, and unforgettable. It was a time when the stars aligned for a love so profound the whole world felt it. It was as if it would last forever.

Review:

At the time of writing this review, I have just finished the book, my eyes are full of tears and my heart is beating hard against my chest. This book is beautiful and heartbreaking.

Mayluna, a British alt-rock band are telling their story to a journalist on the way to their next gig in Rio. When questioned about a particular photo with a girl known simply as "mystery girl in studio", frontman Carter Wills finally shares who Cameron Leigh was.

Through alternating chapters, Evie Waters' husband Steve has just died and their adult children Lucas and Lainey are reminiscing through boxes in their childhood home. They discover a lot of magazines featuring Mayluna and upon landing on the same photo, they realise "mystery girl in studio" reminds them a lot of Lainey.

Evie finally recounts the story of her life before children to them and it feels like a completely different person in comparison to the mother they knew. How she went by a pen name and was trying to make a name for herself in the world of journalism. How she fell in a deep love with Mayluna's Carter Wills and the story right up until present day. It is sort of a "one that got away" tale but the love was never gone. 

Kelley McNeil writes in the most beautiful way, I have highlighted so many stunning lines. I absolutely fell in love with these characters and although some tough decisions were made, the exploration of them were handled very well. 

I was fully immersed in this world and felt every emotion. I got 92% into the book before my heart plummeted into my chest and I realised how it was going to end. The very last two chapters were absolutely perfect. Kelley McNeil, you have shattered my heart into a million pieces. 

Icebound by Meredith Trapp | Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received an eBook copy of the book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

Title & Author: Icebound by Meredith Trapp 

My rating: 5/5

Publication date: 20th February 2024

Blurb:

Rhode Tremblay is Nashville’s Naughtiest Hockey Player—at least, that’s what everyone believes after the Tenerife Incident.

With a thigh tattoo that’s catnip for women and a wicked smirk that needs a warning label, everyone flocks to the NHL’s resident bad boy. Sure, Rhode accidentally set a yacht on fire while bringing a woman to the brink of ecstasy, but that happened over a decade ago. Now, at thirty-three, Rhode’s searching for something real. He’s ready to get down on one knee for the right person, but he has one rule—no dating anyone under thirty.

Philomena “Nina” Alstyne has sworn off men who look like fallen angels on skates.

The feisty art student is done molding herself to fit someone else’s life after her relationship fiasco. At twenty-two, Nina’s last semester of college is about her pottery dreams. Except, when one fateful accident forces Nina into a faux situationship with Nashville’s (Supposed) Naughtiest, all her curated plans crumble like a fragile sculpture.

Rhode falls first, and he falls hard.

There’s only one problem… Rhode thinks he’s fake dating a thirty-year-old doctor. As secrets get revealed, his biggest temptation quickly becomes off-limits, but Nina soon realizes the cross-stitching cat daddy is what the chaos in her soul craves—and Nina’s fiery passion might burn hot enough to melt Rhode’s icy boundaries.

Review:

Rhode Tremblay is the thirty-three-year-old ice hockey goalie for the Guardians. He'd done all his partying in his twenties and can feel his age and the fact that he has yet to settle down creeping up on him. He is adamant that it is time to stop with the meaningless relationships and only date someone in the same stage of life as him. He is ready for marriage and kids. Absolutely no one under the age of thirty. 

Enter Rhode's Uber driver, twenty-two-year-old art student Nina. Of course during their first encounter, she doesn't want to share her personal details so Rhode believes she is a thirty-year-old medical student. Until the truth comes out but he can't stop his attraction.

I've read quite a few hockey romances but this has to be up there as one of my favourites. It is an age-gap romance with plenty of spice but it is also so much more.

The characters of Rhode and Nina are perfectly developed, right down to their quirky personality traits. Humour jumps off the page but most importantly, the tougher subjects are handled fantastically. Nina suffers with anxiety and I have never read a more accurate depiction.

Communication was key and I loved how they were both so honest with what they wanted, always a must for any romance novel I read! 

Nina and her sister's relationship was interesting and a little sad at times but I especially adored the male friendship between Rhode and his teammates. It was very sweet when Nina started to slot in with them. A found family of sorts!

A beautiful read and perfect if you like:

• He falls first

• Fake dating

• Hockey romance

• Dual POV

• Age gap

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A massive thank you to Love Notes PR for supplying me with an eARC of this book for review.

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Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane | Book Review

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Title & Author: Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

My rating: 4/5

Publisher: HarperFiction

Publication date: 7th March 2019

Blurb:

It began with four words.

‘I love your laugh. x’

But that was twelve years ago. It really began the day Georgina was fired from The Worst Restaurant in Sheffield (© Tripadvisor) and found The Worst Boyfriend in the World (© Georgina’s best friends) in bed with someone else.

So when her new boss, Lucas McCarthy, turns out to be the boy who wrote those words to her all that time ago, it feels like the start of something.

The only problem? He doesn’t seem to remember Georgina – at all…

Review: 

I love Mhairi McFarlane's novels. I think when you look at the covers you assume they are a typical romance and while yes, there is an element of romance to them, the main subject matter is deeper. They always have McFarlane's Scottish humour throughout though! 

Georgina is 30 years old, she has just lost her job in an Italian restaurant and has walked in on her kind of famous comedian boyfriend shagging his PA. Both pretty crap things to happen in the same day, but both scenes are hilariously written.

After getting a job at a newly renovated pub, she realises that the owners are brothers and she has a past with one of them back in her school days. Lucas McCarthy appears to have totally forgotten her though and she doesn't bring it up either.

The whole novel focuses mostly on memory, grief and self development. I love how every single one of McFarlane's characters are fleshed out, from her family to her group of friends and even the Bob the stripper dressed as Thor.

A great read with a satisfying ending.

We Play Games by Sarah A. Denzil | Blog Tour Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received an audio copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

Title & Author: We Play Games by Sarah A. Denzil

Genre: Psychological thriller 

Publication date: 11th January 2024

Publisher: Audible Originals 

My rating: 4/5

Blurb:

When the rules turn deadly, winning is everything.

The perfect couple. The perfect marriage. The perfect game.

Effie and Ben May have everything. Success. Beauty. Glamour. But beneath the charming smiles and expensive clothes, a twisted game is in progress.

A game for which only they know the rules.

Leaving their fast-paced London life behind them, the Mays move to the exclusive gated community of Ivy Oaks. Here they can settle down and start a family in this quiet, safe little neighbourhood. At least, that’s what they tell their new neighbours.

But the truth has deadly consequences.

While Effie and Ben scheme and manipulate those around them, they fail to notice their carefully cultivated façade crumbling away. The perfect couple soon turn the game on each other, breaking all the rules. But when the stakes are life and death, losing isn’t an option.

As the final cards are dealt, who will play the winning hand and who will pay the ultimate price?

Review:

I love a good audiobook and this one is up there for me in terms of entertainment.

Narrated by a full cast with music, mixed media such as news reports and online chat comments, I was enthralled from the beginning.

Effie and Ben May have just moved to the gated community of Ivy Oaks. The two are married but also have their own little games they like to play. They seduce married couples in order to scam them, usually out of money, then move on to find their next mark.

They have one rule "No lies, no ties" but when they beginning to lose focus and start turning on each other, what will happen in this cat and mouse game?

This was a bit of a slow starter for me but when the scene was set, I found it hard to stop listening. Ben was a character I loved to hate and Dan Stevens voice was perfect to bring him to life. Billie Piper's Effie was just as good. The whole cast were fantastic.

The twists and turns throughout kept my interest and I thought the ending and epilogue tied it together perfectly. Highly recommend!

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A massive thank you to Midas PR for having me on the blog tour. You can find information on the other bloggers taking part in the tour in the graphic below.

Exodai by Elizabeth Hendrick | Blog Tour Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

Title & Author: Exodai by Elizabeth Hendrick 

Genre: Memoir

Publication date: 18th September 2023

My rating: 5/5

Blurb:

Tonight, I am going to be tortured for the woman I love …

Elizabeth’s drives and desires have always been unusual. Beginning in early childhood, her need for love and suffering took her from the prim surroundings of a Norfolk girls’ school to the secret, latex-clad, rope-bound, whip-lashed delights of the Tokyo role-playing scene.

For Elizabeth, torture was not about sexual gratification – it was about love. In this frank and open memoir, she tells the story of a remarkable personal journey. Attracted to other girls from an early age, Elizabeth struggled to come to terms with her sexuality. As a schoolgirl, her fantasies of torture – always for the benefit of whichever girl she was in love with – were rooted in her own inability to accept herself as a lesbian or reconcile her desires with her Christian beliefs. Before finally realising that connection, Elizabeth would go through years of emotional and physical pain.

Having experimented at university, Elizabeth discovered a whole new world when her career as a high-flying headhunter took her to Tokyo. There she was inducted into the Japanese fetish scene and learnt what real role-playing was all about. When she fell in love with a gorgeous Japanese dominatrix called Tomo and became her slave, she began a descent into hell. Tomo proved to be an irredeemable sadist who took torture far beyond the accepted limits. Elizabeth went to the brink of destruction for Tomo. Not for the faint-hearted, this gripping memoir describes what she experienced there and how she found her way back.

TRIGGER WARNING: this book contains graphic descriptions of real-life sadistic torture.

Review:

Whenever I read a memoir or non-fiction book, I tend to read them slower than fiction and I am probably not in the minority when I say this. However, when I started reading Exodai, all of a sudden it was 2 hours later and I was halfway through. This is probably one of my favourites.

This book follows Elizabeth's life as a Christian, coming to terms with her sexuality which didn't align with the Christian values. She then discovers the world of BDSM in Tokyo. The novel runs much deeper and at times my heart ached.

There is a lot of discovery, self-reflection, realisation and it felt very eye-opening to me. Elizabeth poses the question of, where is the line? When does BDSM stop being BDSM and be real torture and how to do you know if you are submitting for the right reasons? The relationship with Tomo was hard to read.

This is such a brutally honest memoir with a lot of thought provoking and emotional aspects. It takes a lot to share a story like this so openly and publicly, thank you for sharing it with us, Elizabeth.

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Thank you Literally PR for having me on the blog tour. You can find information about the other bloggers on the tour in the graphic below.