Time to Catch up on some Amazing #NetGalley #Reads #BookReviews @TPolen6 @erinhahn_author @ellemarr_ @catherinebybee

I’m getting quite the collection of NetGalley arcs and decided it was time to read, read, READ! lol

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I’ve added a short excerpt of the blurb and the author’s bio. If interested, click the covers to find out more.

The Insurgent by Teri Polen

Amazon Link

If a megalomaniac threatened your family, would you give up your freedom for them? Would you give up your soul?

Asher Solomon is faced with that choice. And makes the ultimate sacrifice.

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When Asher Solomon’s family and the love of his life, Brynn, are threatened by megalomaniac Silas Reeves, his only recourse is to become the stone-cold killer A36 in order for them to go free. Ash shuts down and lets his inner monster do the director’s bidding, unable to accept the horrors of what he’s forced to do.

Nearly eighteen years ago, I was built in a lab and genetically engineered to be the perfect assassin.

The Insurgent- Teri Polen

Declan is seeking redemption. He betrayed the Insurgents’ trust for all the wrong reasons and now is trying to make it up to them by becoming the general’s right-hand man so he can spy on the creep and anonymously send the information to Silas’ enemies.

Paige and Brynn have no reason to believe anything Declan says, but desperation makes strange bedfellows and soon they find themselves in an unlikely alliance with some of the colony’s most dangerous enforcers in a bid to overthrow Silas, free Asher, and save the Insurgents’ children from a violent oppressor.

People should never be judged by their outer shell, only on what’s inside. What they contribute to the world and how they choose to live.

The Insurgent- Teri Polen

The Insurgent is the second in The Colony series and can be read as a standalone, but I’m glad I read A36 first, it gave me a deeper connection to the characters and their plight. I highly recommend both books in this outstanding series!

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Built to Last by Erin Hahn

Amazon Link

There’s something in it for everyone — almost. Cameron wants to come home and set down some roots. Shelby wants to prove to the world she’s not the messy party girl anymore. And Lyle wants to twist the screws on his two childhood friends who had more chemistry than he could dream of with anyone. 

About the Author

ERIN HAHN is the author of You’d Be Mine, More Than Maybe, and Never Saw You Coming. She married her very own YA love interest, who she met on her first day of college, and has two kids who are much, much cooler than she ever was at their age. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a.k.a. the greenest place on earth, and has a cat named Gus who plays fetch and a dog named June who doesn’t. 

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Teen television idols, Shelby, Cameron, and Lyle lived the high life until it all imploded, leaving broken hearts and ruined careers in its wake.

A decade later, Shelby is restoring antique furniture while her father renovates tired old homes. It’s not the future she envisioned- a world away from acting and her jerk of an ex, who betrayed her with a close friend- and that’s fine, peace and quiet is just what she needs, so why can’t she forget the almost night she shared five years ago with her bestie Cameron Hayes?

Cameron was head-over-heels in love with Shelby long before they shared a steamy on-air kiss that blew up the ratings and created friction between her and real-life boyfriend Lyle- the sleaze. It was the beginning of the end of not just the long running television series, but their relationship, as well, and he regretted the loss. He moved on, becoming a well-known photographer for Nat-Geo, but his heart remained with Shelby.

When sleazy Lyle approaches Cameron and Shelby with a concept to do a home renovation project with Shelby’s father as a collaborator, Cam is onboard if it means helping the only woman he’s ever loved, but will they survive Lyle’s machinations?

This is a sweet friends-to-lovers romance filled with a cast of endearing characters. I loved Shelby’s gruff father and Cameron’s best friend, the lumberjack 🙂

I don’t think the story needed the overabundance of curse words or backstory, but overall, an enjoyable read.

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Strangers We Know by Elle Marr

Amazon Link

Adopted when she was only days old, Ivy Hon knows little about her lineage. But when she’s stricken with a mystery illness, the results of a genetic test to identify the cause attract the FBI. According to Ivy’s DNA, she’s related to the Full Moon Killer, who has terrorized the Pacific Northwest for decades. Ivy is the FBI’s hope to stop the enigmatic predator from killing again.

Adopted as a young child, Ivy Hon grows up feeling the odd one out in an exuberant family. Diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, adult Ivy makes the decision to connect with her biological family using a DNA databank but gets more than she could ever have bargained for.

The FBI show up and warn her of a possible danger from one of her new relatives who just happens to be linked to the notorious Full Moon Killer- a serial murderer terrorizing the Pacific Northwest.

A call from a cousin she’d never met sends Ivy on a voyage of discovery where nothing is as it seems. As the danger increases and a killer draws near, Ivy works with the FBI to find the truth before he strikes again.

This book is told in multiple points of view, Ivy’s, her mother Tatum before her death, and Samson, a young man with a fetish for violent strangulations. It was his chapters I found the most interesting. He’s a twisted guy but it all traces back to an abusive relationship he had as a child. The way people become monsters is sometimes sad.

I found parts of this book plodding and think the FBI should have had a more prominent role in the investigation, but otherwise an interesting read.

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When it Falls Apart by Catherine Bybee

Amazon Link

Brooke Turner has always had a complicated relationship with her father. But when his health takes a turn for the worse, she drops everything to care for him. He’s her dad, after all, and he needs her. What Brooke doesn’t anticipate is the unraveling of her long-term relationship and a cross-country move to San Diego’s Little Italy.

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Much as Brooke loves her father, she doesn’t agree with many of his decisions. But when he falls ill, she hurries to his side at the cost of her rocky relationship with a longtime beau.

Faced with her father’s terminal diagnosis, Brooke makes the call to uproot her life and permanently move closer so she can be there for support. It’s heart-wrenching to see the man who lived life large brought down by disease and this part of the story hits the hardest.

The prohibitive cost of palliative care forces Brooke to sell the condo she bought for her dad, many of his tools, and whatever else she could liquify, leaving her to find a cheap apartment in Little Italy- a decision that changes her life.

The D’Angelos have owned the restaurant and apartments above for generations, but a downturn in the market is endangering their livelihoods. When single dad Luca’s mother rents out the top apartment to a stranger, a beautiful, melancholy woman, he is annoyed. Trust doesn’t come easy to Luca, especially with an impressionable young daughter to protect, but he can’t deny his attraction to the vulnerable Brooke.

The relationship between these two is real and authentic, though cute little Franny steals the show!

This is a heartwarming read about reconnecting with loved ones before it’s too late and believing in second chances. A great read!

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Have you read any of these books? What draws you to a story?

Look what I found!