en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 08:57:21 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7470920613 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 08:57:21 -0700 /review/show/7470920613 Kim Reads gave 4 stars to Fly By Night (Texas Hawthorne Legacy, #1) by Kelly Cain
bookshelves: 2025-reads
I’m a huge fan of Kelly Cain. She writes characters that I immediately fall in love with, who make me invested in their HEA.

In Fly by Night, the first book in Kelly’s Texas Hawthorne Legacy series, a one-night stand in London becomes so much more when Margaret Hawthorne and Lewis Watson-Grosvenor consistently find themselves running into each other in Texas, of all places.

Margaret is determined to live up to her family’s rich legacy. Her great-great-grandfather, along with his two sons who were Tuskegee Airmen, founded a crop-dusting business called Hawthorne Family Flying Eagles, which has been expanded and is successful and respected. Margaret is a trailblazer. She has worked hard to become one of the few female commercial airline pilots. She loves her job just as much as she loves her family’s legacy.

Lewis is from an uber-wealthy British family, whose wealth rivals that of the royal family. Unfortunately, after being singled out for his money and family connections, Lewis has decided to turn his back on the family money, company, and connections his last name brings. Lewis decides to leave London and head to the US to start fresh and be his own man. Securing a job as an aviation recruiter is just what he needs.

Margaret and Lewis cross paths at a restaurant and then again a short time later. Their attraction is palpable. They spend the night together, giving each other fake names for various reasons, never expecting to see each other again. But fate has other plans. The two come face to face a few months later when Lewis is attempting to recruit Margaret’s younger brother from the family business.

Margaret and Lewis don’t trust each other, but their physical attraction is too strong to deny. When actual feelings get involved, things get even trickier.

I enjoyed Fly by Night. It’s not one of my favorite books from Kelly, but it’s a solid read. There’s a secondary character I despise, which I’m sure added to my feelings about the book. I dislike this character so much that I wouldn’t be upset if they were to croak and fall into a bed of Texas fire ants. I’m pretty sure my reaction and feelings are exactly what Kelly was after. She’s very good at writing characters who steal your heart, and villains who bring out primal instincts.

Margaret has four other siblings. I think their love interests have been introduced. I’m looking forward to reading their stories.

**Received a copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.** ]]> Review7529393933 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 14:36:40 -0700 /review/show/7529393933 Kim Reads is currently reading Two (Swords Tarot Towerfall) by Kristin Cast
bookshelves: currently-reading, 2025-reads
5 stars

4-29

Holy hotness! I'm new to the Towerfall universe. I was NOT prepared for all of this. I love these characters.

Review to come. ]]> ReadStatus9362116833 Mon, 28 Apr 2025 06:23:08 -0700 /review/show/7525565783 Kim Reads wants to read Whispers of the Lake by Shanora Williams
]]> Review7470920613 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 18:32:35 -0700 /review/show/7470920613 Kim Reads gave 4 stars to Fly By Night (Texas Hawthorne Legacy, #1) by Kelly Cain
bookshelves: 2025-reads
I’m a huge fan of Kelly Cain. She writes characters that I immediately fall in love with, who make me invested in their HEA.

In Fly by Night, the first book in Kelly’s Texas Hawthorne Legacy series, a one-night stand in London becomes so much more when Margaret Hawthorne and Lewis Watson-Grosvenor consistently find themselves running into each other in Texas, of all places.

Margaret is determined to live up to her family’s rich legacy. Her great-great-grandfather, along with his two sons who were Tuskegee Airmen, founded a crop-dusting business called Hawthorne Family Flying Eagles, which has been expanded and is successful and respected. Margaret is a trailblazer. She has worked hard to become one of the few female commercial airline pilots. She loves her job just as much as she loves her family’s legacy.

Lewis is from an uber-wealthy British family, whose wealth rivals that of the royal family. Unfortunately, after being singled out for his money and family connections, Lewis has decided to turn his back on the family money, company, and connections his last name brings. Lewis decides to leave London and head to the US to start fresh and be his own man. Securing a job as an aviation recruiter is just what he needs.

Margaret and Lewis cross paths at a restaurant and then again a short time later. Their attraction is palpable. They spend the night together, giving each other fake names for various reasons, never expecting to see each other again. But fate has other plans. The two come face to face a few months later when Lewis is attempting to recruit Margaret’s younger brother from the family business.

Margaret and Lewis don’t trust each other, but their physical attraction is too strong to deny. When actual feelings get involved, things get even trickier.

I enjoyed Fly by Night. It’s not one of my favorite books from Kelly, but it’s a solid read. There’s a secondary character I despise, which I’m sure added to my feelings about the book. I dislike this character so much that I wouldn’t be upset if they were to croak and fall into a bed of Texas fire ants. I’m pretty sure my reaction and feelings are exactly what Kelly was after. She’s very good at writing characters who steal your heart, and villains who bring out primal instincts.

Margaret has four other siblings. I think their love interests have been introduced. I’m looking forward to reading their stories.

**Received a copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.** ]]> AuthorFollowing108752892 Fri, 25 Apr 2025 07:31:23 -0700 ReadStatus9348579063 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 16:01:03 -0700 /review/show/7516201621 Kim Reads wants to read Just Another Meet Cute by Jenn P. Nguyen
]]> Review7489708293 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 10:53:44 -0700 /review/show/7489708293 Kim Reads is currently reading Nashville Lights (Music City Lovers #4) by Julie Capulet
bookshelves: currently-reading, 2025-reads
4-17

5 stars

This is the second book I've read from Julie. I fell in love with the Tuckers in Nashville Dreams. I was looking forward to Roxie's story. I still need to go back and read the first two books in the series.

But Nashville Lights has me smiling. Life is getting in the way of my reading the book. But I am just drawn to the words. It's honestly hard to stop reading, unless I have to.

There needs to be a series on the Boone siblings! ]]> Review7505436436 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 12:24:54 -0700 /review/show/7505436436 Kim Reads is currently reading Shield of Sparrows (Hardcover) by Devney Perry
bookshelves: currently-reading, 2025-reads
4-23

5 stars

I don't know what to say. Shield of Sparrows was so much more than I ever expected. I loved these characters. I'm not sure if I'm truly a fan of enemies to lovers. But these two made me forget about the enemies part pretty quickly. I loved their playful banter that came through whenever they were together.

I saw a hashtag that said this book had plot twists. Oh yes, it does. It does and then some.

There are so many great moments to this story. The ending doesn't fill me with dread. It actually gives me hope.

There is blood, gore, and death. But there's also love and tender moments.


Review to come ]]> Review7363608546 Fri, 18 Apr 2025 20:12:41 -0700 /review/show/7363608546 Kim Reads gave 5 stars to I Am Made of Death (Hardcover) by Kelly Andrew
bookshelves: 2025-reads
3-2

5 Stars

Let's talk about how I did not know I Am Made of Death contained horror elements. Yes. The title should have told my brain something. I. Am. Not. A. Fan. Of. Horror. So why the heck was I so glued to this book????

On Kelly Andrew's social media, she calls I Am Made of Death a “bubblegum horror�. Meaning it has sticky-sweet vibes without the darker tones. There's not necessarily blood and gore, but there is death, real-looking ghost apparitions, and mirror reflections that aren’t exactly accurate.

Told from multiple points of view, I Am Made of Death is the story of eighteen-year-old Vivienne Farrow and her unlikely hero, eighteen-year-old Thomas Walsh. At the age of four, Vivienne was on a trip with her family when she got lost and ended up missing for three days. No one knows what happened to her, just that she now doesn’t speak. While Vivienne can hear people just fine, she prefers to use sign language to respond when spoken to, as her voice leads to excruciating pain and death. Her stepfather, Philip, has very strict rules for Vivienne. She is to be accompanied at all times when she leaves the house, she isn’t to be out after dark, and not doing what he tells her to do isn’t an option.

Philip hires Thomas to be Vivienne’s summer interpreter and his pseudo-spy. Not that Thomas plans on spying for Philip. After a rocky start, Vivienne and Thomas become reluctant friends, while their attraction grows. Thomas doesn’t trust some of Vivienne’s friends. At the same time, he starts to notice strange things about Vivienne and the Farrow household.

Things come to a head when Thomas connects with his past after he is attacked, and Vivienne is kidnapped. He learns Vivienne is planning on undergoing a never-before-done surgical exorcism to finally rid herself of the demon who’s been a part of her since that faithful family trip all those years ago. However, there are those who do not want Vivienne to succeed and have other deadly plans for her.

I LOVED everything about I Am Made of Death. Vivienne is, in my opinion, a morally gray character. She typically only associates with people she can bend to her will. Those in her orbit are either people she's paying or people she's blackmailing to get what she wants. Unfortunately, she's this way because of her parents. Thomas is straight-laced and always tries to do what's right. Well, now he does. He isn't afraid to go toe to toe with someone and get his hands dirty. He says what he means, and he means what he says. I loved them both. The plot was phenomenal. There were a lot of moving pieces, but they all came together to make an amazing story. There were several twists and turns that were a little shocking and left me wondering how I missed some details, because I definitely missed details.

Kelly’s three books, The Whispering Dark, Your Blood, My Bones, and I Am Made of Death, are all interconnected but standalone reads. This is good because if you have read The Whispering Dark, you will see some familiar faces. And if you haven’t, you’re going to want to go and read the book. I definitely do.

~ Favorite Quote ~

“I’ll always come for you.�

**Received a copy of the book from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed it. Personally purchased the hardcover edition of the book.** ]]> Review7429031913 Fri, 18 Apr 2025 11:37:44 -0700 /review/show/7429031913 Kim Reads gave 5 stars to If Tomorrow Never Comes (Kindle Edition) by Allison Ashley
bookshelves: 2025-reads
Allison Ashley pens an incredible love story with If Tomorrow Never Comes.

Elliott Holland has been battling leukemia on and off for a little over ten years. On the eve of her stem cell transplant, she’s in her Omaha, Nebraska hotel room, feeling antsy and wondering if this could potentially be her last night to have fun and enjoy life in general. She decides to go to a random bar and order a drink. She’s oblivious to the man sitting a few seats down from her until he confesses to hearing her phone conversation and declares she’s wrong about what cheesecake is. The two strike up a playful conversation, where they completely disagree. The stranger introduces himself as Jamie and asks if she would like to accompany him to a cooking class he was supposed to attend with the date who stood him up.

Elliott and Jamie have an amazingly incredible evening together, where they fall asleep talking. Jamie wakes up to Elliott gone and no way of finding her. Fast forward a year, and fate brings these two star-crossed lovers back into the same orbit. But fate is a fickle being. Before, Elliott couldn’t commit to anyone due to the transplant, and the months she would have to be in the hospital and then at home recovering, while Jamie was free and unattached. Now, Elliott has moved out on her own to Omaha from Lincoln to finally live on her own and pursue her dream of being a graphic designer. Jamie is in a relationship with Carly, his former college girlfriend and the lady whose stem cells saved Elliott’s life. Jamie and Elliott meet in a surprise meet-up and agree to keep the fact that they have previously met to themselves, which is a recipe for disaster.

If Tomorrow Never Comes was one of those stories that I didn’t see coming. I loved Elliott and Jamie from the moment they appeared on the page. Their connection is truly what romantic dreams are made of. If Tomorrow Never Comes will remain in my heart for a long time to come.

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“We all need one person we can be totally vulnerable around and not worry about being judged.�

“Sometimes ignoring something makes it more painful in the long run.�

“Love can be messy and inconvenient. It doesn't always show up at the most opportune time, or even with the person we always thought. But that's what makes it so magical.�

**Received an advance reader’s copy from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed it.** ]]>