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Bake Believe (Bake Believe Series Book 1) by Cori Cooper – Review by Savanah Schwarz

I started to read this book with trepidation as I firmly believed quick read, but something too immature for me. I honestly did not think that I would want to read this fast to move on to something else. However, I was happily mistaken. I started to read this book and never put it down!

It starts off with Cat Anderson, newly graduated to 8th grade. She is so excited for the last day of summer before the first day of school. When she becomes entirely enamored with a pretzel, her life changes drastically. Cat being energetic, and quirky, doesn’t get phased by much. I mean, why should she? But when she bites into the pretzel from heaven from the new bakery, she knows her life will never be the same but she doesn’t know how.

It all comes together when she starts a culinary class in school she uncovers a magical mystical gift (or curse – according to her mother) that transfers her emotions into her cooking. What starts off as a simple story about a regular 8th grader turns into a cute and interesting story about a young girl coming into her own as she learns that her family has a magical, fantastical, yummy secret. It starts off with baking. Which is a huge deal in Cat’s family. I had to keep reading to find out the baking secret. I was not disappointed. now on to the next one!

Thief (Popov Bratva Book 4) by Leslie Georgeson – Review by Savanah Schwarz

Thief (Popov Bratva #4)Thief by Leslie Georgeson

Thief is the fourth mafia romance book in the Popov Bratva series by Leslie Georgeson. After reading this book I cannot wait to go back and read the rest of the books in this series. I started this thinking that this would be a quick read with some basic mafia, jealous-possessive, and intense spicy times. I was dead wrong. Leslie Georgeson writes her characters in such a way, that it negates the stereotypical trope and instead you perceive these characters as real people. I quickly got attached to Leah and her story. I kept waiting for the book to show some sort of mismatched error or spelling error or some sort of cheesy oneliner to turn me off and lead me into that version of Mafia Romance we all know. Instead, I have so engrossed in the story and the romance that the Mafia aspect was second to the actual story.

This story begins with Dom, a Bratva prince, son of the Pakhan of the Russian Mafia. He has a lucrative business as a car thief, stealing and selling cars for the Bratva.

When a client of the Bratva has a special order, he is only eager to comply. After all, he is an expert thief, never spending time in prison or a cell. His confidence and skill in stealing cars are almost too sexy and incredibly alluring. Never mind his piercing eyes, sharp senses, and shaggy hair.

When he stops at a local store and sees his quarry, he is taken by surprise when Leah, a beautiful, fierce country star celebrity,  jumps into the car as he is boosting it.

Leah, having secrets of her own, as the former daughter of a notorious Biker Gang criminal, realizes her car is being stolen. Thinking of only one thing, to prevent her baby “Silver” from being stolen. From there the rest is drawn out in twisting narrations of love, heat, enemies-to-lovers, and intense love story with different aspects of mafia, celebrity, and family thrown in the mix. This book will keep you on your toes but lure you in with its soft moments and bouts of criminal activity and of the underworld.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I immensely loved the narration the storytelling and world-building. This has started me down a never-ending book binging on all things Leslie Georgeson and Mafia romance. I am now obsessed with this author as she has not been disappointed with this one.

Key to His Heart by Kristina Beck – Review by Savannah Schwarz

Key To His HeartKey To His Heart by Kristina Beck

This is a love story. But not a typical one. This brings two people together in the most beautiful way; and it a starts with a rocking chair and a baby.

When Katerina, pregnant, and newly divorced walks into TJs store to purchase a special blue rocking chair, it’s love at first sight. Their love story took me through loops and red tape so many times, i could do nothing but to keep reading. There is an element of the mystical when Katerina knows TJ before they meet from her dreams. She has felt him, dreamed of him before she knew him.

The tiptoeing and hesitant romance is so thrilling. It’s like watching a Nicholas Sparks movie. Their romance is timid and sweet. Tj is the definition of sweet.

TJ, a retired football player, doesn’t know what hit him. Katerina is everything to him and he just knows she is his forever. If only he could convince Katerina of the same. it devolves and escalates into this whirlwind love affair that left me biting my nails reading nonstop until the end. There is room for more character development and the story seemed rushed but over all I loved it and would read it again. Read more

Enchanted in Time by Nikki Lynn Barrett – Review by Savannah Schwarz

Enchanted in TimeEnchanted in Time by Nikki Lynn Barrett
This book is a quick read, but i found the interactions between two women, Roxanne and Claudette nostalgic as it quickly took me back to when I would sit on the porch with my grandma and talk about old times in the family while sipping coffee and eating cake. It immerses you into the life of Roxanne who becomes a ghostwriter for Claudette, an eclectic stubborn, famous writer who has dementia. As I read the pages I kept waiting and kept intrigued enough to keep going. I became so interested and anxious for the next page, the next line. I like that the author didn’t spend a great amount of time laying the foundation for the characters. Instead, you read it as is and learn as you go. It’s a quick read that is overall worth the read.

A Quirk of Destiny (Quirk of Destiny Book 1) by Catherine Greenall – Review by Savanah Schwarz

A Quirk of Destiny: Ignoramus et IgnorabimusA Quirk of Destiny: Ignoramus et Ignorabimus by Catherine Greenall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great opportunity for readers who have not read or just starting to read apocalyptic books. This has a great narrative and world-building. It has a few sentences that are stumbling blocks or have to be re-read to understand, but you ignore it when reading it to find out what happens. I quickly immersed myself into the book and was eager to know more about the conspiracy and how the government caused the end of the world. The characters are personable and they are easy to know. This is an overall experience. Not at all your typical zombie/plague type of book.

The main characters discover a virus that was first tested on rats and then quickly went south. Both scientists and citizens alike try to fight or uncover the cause and stop it. But it is too late the government quickly covers it up and tries to kill everyone involved. Not realizing it’s too late. This is a seat-of-your-pants thriller/ conspiracy at the core and a plague/zombie book secondly. Definitely worth reading.

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