Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – Locked In: Season One (Katelyn Taylor)

Hey Dearies!

I thought I was going to take a break from thrillers, but my friend convinced me to read this one. I got more curious about it when she mentioned it was similar to a reality TV show, but it’s not like any other reality TV show.

She said it was sort of the same thing as “Love Island”, which I’ve only ever seen clips of, but I did cave and download the app when it first came out; although it wasn’t my cup of tea, I figured reading about a reality show might be more appealing than watching it.

As per the title, “Locked In” is a reality TV show that Courtney’s sister gets signed up for; her little sister signs her up for it, as Courtney has been working 3 jobs to help pay for her sister’s medical bills. Plus, there is a grand prize where the last couple standing will win a grand prize, as well as being able to get married to the person they locked in with.

So, it seems pretty simple, right? Well, it is nothing like what you expect it to be, that’s for sure.

First, when everyone gets to the island, they are pretty much drugged on the plane, so they have no idea where they are going. They end up waking up on a random island with 16 other people, 8 guys and 8 girls.

The book’s POV is mainly in Courtney’s, but you also get Noah and Landon’s POV’s as well. Before I go any further, a SPOILER ALERT is needed because I have a little bit of ranting to do about these.

When Courtney is meeting everyone, Noah and her are almost perfect together, and end up being the first “couple” to hook up. I honestly was rooting for these two to be locked in together. However, because this is a reality TV show, some drama happens that shocks you as to why they don’t lock in together.

Not to mention, the girls are the one who picks the guy they are locked in with. So, when it comes time for that, Savannah ends up picking Noah. Mind you, she ends up getting with him the night before anyone even locks in.

Don’t get me started about this Savannah character! As soon as she is introduced, you know that she will be the drama starter from the beginning. Especially how she treats Courtney when they first meet, you know she’s nothing but trouble.

Oh, I forgot to mention, it’s also a mix of very smutty scenes as well.

Anyway, by the time it gets to Courtney’s chance to pick, she picks Landon. Now, they didn’t start off on a good note. Landon was a bit of an ass to her in the beginning, but he ends up agreeing to be locked in with her, especially because of what Noah and Savannah did to her.

This is when the Noah POV’s go away, thankfully, and Landon steps in his place. Landon and Courtney aren’t as different as you think; they actually have more in common than they realized. They slowly start to fall with each other over time.

They pretty much have to stick together and complete the challenges to be the last couple standing; if not, they are eliminated. Again, this isn’t like any normal reality TV show where they go back home.

Courtney and Landon find out that when a couple is eliminated, they are eliminated for real.

After finishing the book, I had to look back and ask, “What the fuck did I actually read?” I was completely zoned in; it kept me on my toes for sure! I also really can’t wait for the second one to come out because there were a few unanswered questions about the end that I really hope get answered.

Overall, I liked the mix of romance, smut, and thriller that was in this book. There was also a lot of drama as well, which made the book more appealing as well. Not to mention, I loved how Landon and Courtney’s relationship goes from haters to lovers.

Was this a book that had you questioning what you were reading? Or is this something you can’t wait to read? Let me know down below!

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – If He Had Been With Me (Laura Nowlin)

Hey Dearies!

I’m so sorry for missing last week’s post! We had a beautiful weekend that I couldn’t pass up, and plus, I hadn’t finished a book yet either, I completely forgot! Don’t worry, I’m back! I’ll make sure I have some others pre-planned just in case I space it again!

Since I got Kindle Unlimited, this title came up as a recommendation, and I figured, why not? I’ll give it a go. Then, when I mentioned to one of my friends that I was reading this, she was like, “Oh man, you are going to lose it when you get to the end.”

Mind you, I just started the book, and the way the beginning started, I kind of figured out what might be happening. Then she showed me some TikToks of people absolutely losing it when they got to Chapters 84 & 85. When I mean they were losing it, I mean like balling uncontrollably.

I also had no idea this was even popular. I don’t have TikTok, never installed it, or signed up for an account because anything that was shown on TikTok showed up on Facebook or YouTube, so I didn’t see the need to have it. Plus, most of my book recommendations come from Pinterest or Kindle Unlimited.

Anyway, this book wasn’t what I was expecting, but it is something I would reread again. So, it’s about Finn and Autumn, how their mothers were best friends and pretty much were raised together. Its best friends turned to lovers, but it doesn’t happen right off the bat.

The book is completely in Autumn’s POV, so you start to see that he’s more popular than her, and she backs away from their friendship, which can happen, especially during middle school and high school. That’s when you start finding groups of friends more like you.

By the way, this only happens when Finn kisses her, and she doesn’t know how to react and doesn’t want him to use her, which I completely understand, but she basically pushes him away and stays with her little group of friends.

Then, at the beginning of freshman year, you see Finn start dating Sylvie, eventually Autumn meets Jamie, and they start dating as well. They still see each other a lot, but this distance has been created, which makes it difficult for them to co-exist and still be the best of friends that they once were.

Without trying to spoil the entire thing, they don’t confess their feelings until the summer that they graduated, and that’s when they both realized that Finn had been in love with her since they were 11. Autumn didn’t start feeling it until 2 years before, but doesn’t say anything since she’s with Jamie.

One thing I want to point out about Jamie is that he had so many red flags that she just ignored, but I do understand because of the fact that they were in high school, and when it’s your first love, you tend to look over everything.

Anytime he didn’t agree with something she said, he would argue with Autumn about it, as if he didn’t care about her opinion. Kept pushing her to have sex with her when she told him she wasn’t ready. He was a douche bag anyway because of what he did to Autumn in the end.

I was waiting for her to break things off with this guy from the moment he started treating her like crap. Then again, you do dumb stuff when you’re young and have to learn from your mistakes. Plus, I’m pretty sure he was love-bombing her too.

Of course, when the book starts in the beginning, I kinda had a feeling that something happened with Finn, that we weren’t going to know for sure until the end. If you have read as much as I have, then you would be able to put two and two together about what happened.

I did get teared up when I read Chapters 84 & 85, but not as bad as I saw others do. Which is shocking because when I read that part, my 1-year-old was sleeping on my chest and my eyes watered, but I didn’t full-blown cry over it. I’m also pregnant, so it really didn’t hit me as hard as I expected.

It could have had to do with the fact that the TikToks kind of gave it away, which is one of the reasons why I don’t have it, because it spoils a lot of books for people. I mean, I get ideas from Pinterest on different book suggestions, but I haven’t run into a pin that has spoiled it for me.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad book; the writer’s style was something to get used to, but it was readable for sure. I highly recommend it, although once you finish that one, there is a sequel that gives you Finn’s POV for a few chapters, which gives you more of an inside on how he was feeling about Autumn.

What did you think of this book? Did you happen to read it because it was on TikTok, or were you like me and happened to have it recommended? Let me know in the comments!