Tag: reading

This Chick Read: The Final Target by Nora Roberts

At her first book signing, introverted Arden Bowie puts on a smile and makes an effort with every single person who came to purchase her novel. When Dustin got her autograph he showered her with compliments which made her slightly uneasy, but she ignored her intuition. Then he showed up at another book signing, and another. When he showed up at her apartment declaring his intention that he be together she finally got mad but it was too late. He assaulted her and would have done worse but her downstairs neighbors heard the noise and came to her rescue. He was arrested and found guilty but because of his wealthy mother only got five years in a psychiatric prison where he has stewed and stewed. Arden wanted to start a new life so she chose a small town in Oregon and befriended Gideon an ex-LAPD cop, and when Dustin’s five years ended hoped he had forgotten all about her.

What can I say, I’m a big Nora Roberts fan, but dare I say it? Are her romantic thriller’s getting a bit darker? Her last two have had serial killers hunting her heroine and I’m a big scaredy fan, so would love her to turn her attention to a caper or other sort of thriller for a change in tune. That being said, The Final Target was another winner.

Arden held just the right amount of feminine vulnerability and strength. What she went through was awful and the fact she kept writing mysteries and living a full life made her journey easy to admire. She had a great group of family and friends gathered around her, a mix of kooky, loving, and fun which added color to the story. Her romance with Gideon had a slow build because he was a man who liked to think things through, and being an ex-detective, he knew there was a mystery in her background. The fact he didn’t push and prod it out of her and had a gentle approach made him so likable but the romantic in me would’ve liked him to have a little more heat but that didn’t stop me from liking them together.

If you’re a scaredy cat like me, you may not want to read the chapters from the serial killers point of view. I skimmed those but I read every single word of Arden’s viewpoint and enjoyed her journey of strength, resilience, and love.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Final Target

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchased this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: A Curse of Beasts and Magic (Beautiful and Beastly #1) by Jeaniene Frost

After an attack by a mysterious creature that killed her family, Raine is living with a big secret. She has a beast inside of her that feeds on chaos and anger. She keeps it reined in by working as a nurse in an ER where she can feed the beast with residual feelings from her patients. At night she plays vigilante on the streets where she occasionally allows it free. One night she sees an elderly man being attacked by two men and she steps in to help. After vanquishing the threat she uses her power to heal the man and because of that she becomes part of a magical world that she never knew existed. She meets Remy Byrne, a Warden who guards the gateway between the human world and the magical. Her beast’s power could help tip the scales in his favor if she allies with him.

It’s been a little while since I’ve read one of this author’s books and I’d forgotten how good she is at creating world’s and dropping the reader into the middle of them. In this case, I didn’t feel at all lost, and Raine and Remy’s world was familiar and yet held a magical element that was new and interesting. Raine had always lived in the human world, so seeing this new vibrant place with magical beings through her eyes added an element of “wow” that kept things fresh and new.

Raine and Remy both held an element of mystery that kept me guessing their motives with others but more importantly with each other. They were both dark beings who were drawn to each other physically making for some rather spicy chapters, but they also had something that other dark fantasy novels lacked, they communicated and worked together against the big bad that was coming for the two of them. I’ve read so many darker fantasy novels lately that I’d forgotten how nice it was to see a couple drawn together who kind of liked each other and weren’t just having a good time in the sack. So, plot and romance mixed together with interesting characters makes for a good book. Not so surprising, but it doesn’t happen all the time so I really enjoyed this novel. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book! A Curse of Beasts and Magic

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associates- if you purchased this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

Dolly and her son moved back home to Whitfield, Rhode Island for the summer to help out her dad and her brother save the family home. Working at the family fish shop while problem solving needing a new roof and not having the funds to get one, she runs into local scion Stewart Whitfield with a flat tire. At the end of a messy, very public break-up, Stewart is having a really bad week. A picture of an attractive young woman changing his tire is not what his reputation needs, so when it comes out in the paper the paper prints that he was teaching her instead of the other way around. Stewart tracks Dolly down to apologize and ends up with a paid for fake girlfriend. This sounds like a terrible idea to Dolly but when he offers to pay for her new roof she figures why not? As they get to know each other what was once fake starts to feel very real.

I eagerly wait for Annabel Monaghan’s book to come out every year. She is one of a handful of author’s that I can always count on to write a great story, create wonderfully real characters, and to know I’m going to enjoy practically every word that’s written. This book delivered on all three of those things. Their opposites attract/fake boyfriend-girlfriend tropes worked, although there were some silly, totally saw it coming story lines. I enjoyed the fact that Dolly was level headed and so real, and that Stewart was a workaholic who excelled at business but not at changing a tire. Their journey towards love was sweet and heart-breaking at the same time. I wasn’t sure when the shoe was going to drop on their fake scheme and it kept me reading every chapter!

Something else this author excels at is writing great familial relationships. Dolly’s dad was just wonderful and his sense of humor and dad advice were great additions to round out the story about her situation at home. Her son’s backstory held all of the drama of youth, but gave Dolly some great moments as a mother. She was such a well-rounded character.

If you love love, family relationships, and a little drama, then you should pick up this book and give it a go. I was not disappointed one bit and am not looking forward to next year when this author will release her next book. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* Dolly All The Time

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: First and Forever by Lynn Painter

Duffy Distefano is a long-time fan of her football team, the Minneapolis Coyote’s. When she has an unfortunate interaction with the mascot at a game, she becomes the most hated person in Minneapolis. When she has the opportunity to go on a local TV show and tell her side of the story she jumps at the chance. What she doesn’t expect is for the Coyotes star tight end to join her on the show, and for them to have great chemistry! Connor Cunningham thinks he’s just helping out his PR department by making nice with Duffy, but when she starts hazing him on live TV he sits back and enjoys the show. She knows his stats better than he does and when her father drags out a chair and joins the interview they have the audience in hysterics. He can’t help but want to see her again.

You know, I don’t think I’ve ever read a Lynn Painter novel that I haven’t liked and I’m not starting that here. First and Forever was absolutely charming. Duffy is unlike any romance heroine I’ve ever read. She’s attractive, but doesn’t really care about her looks, she’s funny but always gets slotted into the friend-zone by her dates, and she lives with her father- who is an absolute hoot! When Connor calls her on the phone to ask her out and she says she needs to call him back, I laughed out loud. She was so adorable and Connor, too, was drawn to her charm.

I don’t want to give away any of the wonderful scenes that this author created to draw in the reader (and Connor!), but when you get to the paint ball scene you are going to laugh just like I did. This girl is hysterical and Connor is all in for her brand of crazy. So was I. OK, that’s all I’m going to tell you other than, just READ THE BOOK. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* First and Forever

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Rolls and Rivalry (Gaming and Romance #3) by Kristy Boyce

When Hazel’s former best friend, Max, moves back to town she thinks her plan for her Senior year is all set, but he’s not the boy she remembers. As color guard captain, she’s determined to lead her team to an award winning season. Max, joins the band in the drum unit, and for some reason he’s copping attitude and leads the charge in the rivalry between their two units. Needing a distraction from the stress, she puts her second plan into play. She wants to lead a D&D game. She recruits her best friend, and in a moment of madness asks Max and another drummer to join. Playing the game outside their rivalry helps she and Max get closer and reignites the crush she had on Max when she was younger. Is this the start of a new friendship?

I’ve enjoyed this series by Kristy Boyce despite being totally outside the target demographic. Hazel and Max’s high school rivalry and D&D games brought back old memories, even though I wasn’t in the band or played D&D myself. It reminded me of how our high school friendships were the linchpin of all of our emotions and are a huge part of molding us into who we are as adults.

Hazel’s expansive friend group, her role as leader of the guard, and her budding friendship/romance with Max added to the stress she was already feeling from her family. I liked the way the author didn’t whitewash Hazel’s first instincts to lead the color guard in a rather strict way and the lesson she learned about uniting together as a team and still having fun along the way. I also liked how Hazel was open to communicate with her peers, Max, and her parents and it was through that communication that she achieved her goals. A great lesson for someone of any age, which is probably why I enjoy these novels. That and the peek into the D&D world, which is totally alien despite my love for fantasy novels.

You’ll enjoy this book, as well as the others in the series if you, too, like stories that are uplifting where the heroine learns life lessons. Or even if you just love marching bands and Dungeons & Dragons. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* Rolls and Rivalry

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Happy Ending by Chloe Liese

Thea and Alex met when Thea was going to pick up her dog from her recent ex-husband’s home and Alex was going to pick up his daughter at his recent ex-wife’s new boyfriends home- Thea’s ex. Both a little off guard by the situation they find themselves in, they spin a little tale about being childhood best friend’s. What starts as a little prank, two years later, grows into a true friendship. When their ex’s ask them to take a group family vacation they realize this friendship might be growing into something more.

This is a tough review for me because I love Chloe Liese’s novels. She always has realistic characters who are slightly challenged by life. Happy Ending’s characters are challenged by a situation, but as characters they didn’t really hold my interest. I like a friends to lovers romance, and the plot set this one up nicely, but for me, something was missing. Thea’s pining for Alex was kind of annoying and his not so secret crush on her was equally irritating. These two people who claimed to be best friends just didn’t communicate at all. They each subverted their emotions so they could continue this lackluster friendship. It was well written, but I just found the story boring. I hope she gets back to writing interesting characters on the next novel!

❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: What Lasts by J. Bengtsson

As a fan of J. Bengtsson’s Cake series, I was intrigued by her news that she was writing a prequel about the couple that created all of our favorite characters…Michelle and Scott McCallister, the parents. After six books about the McCallister siblings, you’d think the reader would know everything about Michelle and Scott, but I learned that my knowledge only brushed the surface. What Lasts takes us back to the 80’s and the beginning of it all.

Michelle has grown up in privilege and when she meets Scott, someone who is not among the privileged (at all), she embarass’s herself in front of him, and yet Scott is intrigued. Not thinking she’ll ever show up, he invites her to his gig that night and surprisingly she shows up. This is just the beginning of Michelle showing up for Scott. As we learn from the other novels, Michelle wants more from her future than to marry whomever her parents deem appropriate, so she gives it all up for a single dad who works three jobs in order to be there for his boy, Mitchell. What follows are a couple of decades of having and raising kids, living in poverty, and Scott trying to live up to what he thinks Michelle needs.Then comes the backbone of all of Cake’s novels. Jake’s kidnapping, return, and skyrocketing career to rockstardom. How do Michelle and Scott handle all of the above? The details are in the novel so I’ll let you see if you like how their story is told. I’ll admit, I found it kind of lackluster.

I love these books, but what I really like about them are the relationships between all of the siblings. Was I curious about Michelle and Scott? A little bit? Scott was obviously a character so it was kind of cool to see where all of his unusualness came from. Michelle always came off as a bit of a cool customer. I knew she came from a wealthy background but even after learning about their struggles, and how as a mother she felt during all of the kidnapping trauma, I just never really warmed up to her. So, for me, I didn’t find their story that riveting. What it did do though, is make me want to read all of the sibling novels again, so really it did it’s job! I’ve read them all at least twice as well as listened to the audiobooks. I have my favorites, but I think this time I’m going to read them in order.

❤️❤️❤️

Thank you so much for allowing me to read an early copy! I’m a SoCal girl who grew up in Ventura County, so I always love to read stories that take place in that area. I’m looking forward to going back and taking a visit to SoCal with some of my favorite characters.

Click this link to purchase this book!* What Lasts

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (Maggie the Undying #1) by Ilona Andrews

When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters’ ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she’s coming to love—a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes—and attentions—of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will end: in a cataclysmic war.

I am obsessed with this book. I’ve read it twice and am finding new moments to love and marvel at with each reading. One of my favorite series that this author duo has written is the Kate Daniels series, and there are a few similarities. Maggie, like Kate, has a huge heart. While Kate swings a sword and has huge magical skills that evolve over all of that series, Maggie enters this world kind of as a newborn. She does have a skill, although it’s not warrior like, she has knowledge of what will happen to characters in this world she’s been dropped into, and she can use that knowledge as currency to move herself from homeless street person, to “Lady” Maggie. Like Kate, Maggie’s huge heart means that she makes connections with characters who she will move the world for- or in this book, attempt to save their world. Also like Kate, Maggie will sacrifice herself for her loved ones. Other characters in this book provide the weapon-wielding and action, and while Maggie is at the center of it all, she is the strategist behind all of their actions and some of those actions are self-sacrificing. Kair Toren is a big chess board, and Maggie knows all the moves but they don’t always work out the way she thinks they will. Hence the “Undying” moniker. She does make mistakes and those mistakes result in her knowledge that she can’t be killed- or at least not yet.

Note before reading- this novel is much darker and more gruesome than Ilona Andrews other books. There are definitely light-hearted moments as well as humorous ones, but they are trying to save their kingdom and there’s not a lot of time for fun. Maggie has a great sense of humor and I hear these author’s voices when she has an inner monologue. Ilona Andrews has a snarky humor that takes you out of a dark moment and adds a little lightness and clarity that works beautifully in this context. I can’t wait to hear the audio for this book. I just know it will be superb and those snarky thoughts even more funny in someone else’s voice. Although I do a great job in my head.

Maggie has a love interest sub plot or maybe not so sub-plot, that is intermingled in the main story. This love story is dark, brooding, filled with distrust, lots of emotions, and of course conflict. Some of this conflict comes in the form of adversaries whom our hero thinks may vie for Maggie’s heart and other obstacles he unwittingly places himself. Our hero, is very possessive, very powerful (an amazing swordsman!), and of course, doesn’t want to share. All the things that make a romantic fantasy fun to read. Their journey is not an easy one, after all they are trying to save their kingdom- and there are many things standing in their way. I can’t wait to see how all of this gets resolved in book two!

If I could give a 10.0 rating I would.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️)

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Toe to Toe by Falon Ballard

Allegra Hart has been working her whole life towards being a principal ballerina. When her director announces he’s choreographing a brand new ballet and will be holding auditions for the leads, Allegra knows she will be auditioning, however when she approaches her director he tells her that she doesn’t have the sex appeal to play this character. That evening she goes to her sister’s bachelorette party at a male revue club and is gobsmacked by the lead dancer. Determined to gain his help in training her she approaches Cord Donovan and appeals to him for his help. When he agrees she’s not sure of the direction this training will take, but is sure it will take her outside her comfort zone.

I don’t usually read reviews before I write my own but I was curious what other people thought of this book. There were some triggering subject matters. An example-Allegra worked in a ballet company where she was sexually harassed by her director.. and she ignored it in order to keep her job. Some readers were pretty pissed off that the author wrote a story where the protagonist didn’t stand up for herself, other women, and pretty much all things sexually harassed related. Yes, I noticed these things as well but I’m just going to throw this idea out there. While I would kick scream and shout to the world about what was happening, not everyone handles situations in strong outspoken ways. Sometimes the fight happens when that person is ready. Do I wish that Allegra had forsaken all that she’s worked for in her career to scream about harassment to the world? Nope. As a woman of a certain age who works in a not at all related field, let me just say that you deal with all sorts of things that you have to weigh and decide what’s best for you at that moment and for your future. I wasn’t mad but I could see how some readers might be.

I enjoyed the push and pull of Allegra and Cord’s slow burn romance. Despite their instant attraction they were both committed to their careers and didn’t really want to cross that line, but while they were getting to know each other those dance scenes sure did create some great tension. As a non dancer I really appreciated how I could visualize their dancing too. Kudos to this author for doing her research and writing some great numbers.

Cord and Allegra’s relationship was not perfect but it did feel real and it brought up that age old issue. Do women need to compromise their wants and needs, the future they were building, in order to live happily ever after with a man? I know my answer but if you want to know Allegra’s read the book. 🙂

❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* Toe to Toe

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: In Time With You by Kristin Dwyer

When Nieve’s boyfriend Carter dies trying to save her from drowning in a river she is devastated. Blaming herself for his death she’s too depressed to continue on with school and heads home to her Grandmother’s house where she grew up. Her Grandmother’s always been a bit odd with her strange stories, uncanny happenings and magic. The following morning when Nieve wakes up a year in the past before Carter’s death she has to make a decision. Does she go on as she did the previous year, or does she do things differently putting a little distance between she and her ex. Deciding on the more difficult route of giving him up draws her closer to his best friend Max but in order to change her past she must embracer her future.

This was one of those stories that could’ve gone either way- love or hate. Luckily, I was in the right mood to read a quirky story filled with interesting characters, a rivetiing plot, and perhaps a little bit of magic.

Is it possible to love someone you used to hate? As this story goes on and Nieve becomes closer to Max she realizes that maybe all wasn’t as it appeared the previous year. Maybe she was overcome with her love for Carter and didn’t see clearly through that haze of first love, but Max is not at all what she remembered him being. Is it weird that I was rooting for her to give Max a chance? Despite all the twists and turns in this story I was intrigued by he and Nieve’s possibility’s and wanted to see where this story was going to take me.

I’ll admit that if I wasn’t in the right frame of mind it’s possible that I wouldn’t have liked this story as much as I did. But the timing was right, I loved all the Groundhog Days and I appreciated the well crafted storytelling. Well done!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* In Time With You

Copyright 2026 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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