Horse Talk Reviews

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars I'm as surprised as you are that I didn't completely hate this book after the last several tries with AJH. I'd even go as far to say I quite enjoyed it. Sure it had the very annoying thing where -y is added to the end of words to be cutesy (see what I did there) and it is written in what I assume is a northern accent so if i never see a sentence end in "like" again it'll be too soon. But the amensia plot was kind of fun, I liked the two MCs, and the meddling family and meddling coworkers were rather enjoyable. What's keeping it three stars is the rather predictable 95% breakup, the 97% Christmas Death (ugh we were so close to a mostly death free Christmas! But no here they are kissing in a cemetery wtf), and the aforementioned annoyingly accenty (lol) narrative. It helped a lot that the POV character, Sam, wasn't completely full of anxiety ...

Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars Ah yes nothing says Merry Christmas quite like re-living the day you bombed a job interview and your beloved fiance got hit by a truck because you shook a magic snow globe and made a Christmas wish. Who wouldn't want to see how many different ways that delivery truck can hunt down Linus (aforementioned fiance) to run him down and put him in a Christmas coma?? After failing the same horrible job interview for a promotion at work?? Not me, that's for sure. I had fun reading this book because after the first groundhog day loop Diana went through I wanted to see just how much more horrible it could get. And boy did it. Linus ended up in a coma after being hit by the delivery truck while riding his bike, as a passenger in a car, while walking, and while standing outside all at different times and situations. That truck had it out for his ass.  The rules of the snowglobe groundho...

New Adult by Timothy Janovsky My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4 stars I was rather surprised by this book (positive). It's about a comedian which I have absolutely no interest in because improv is my actual nightmare and it involves magic crystal which I do have an interest in as a part time spooky person but what it's really about is one of my FAVORITE tropes which is waking up in the future with absolutely no idea how you got there. (magic, amnesia, time travel??? all three??? read and find out!) I very much liked that the comedian character Nolan turns out to be a total bag of butts in the future and built his fortune on the back of horrible raunchy jokes which thank goodness this book has very little of the actual tight tens in it because no one needs to read those. It focused more on Nolan trying to redeem his alternative future self's buttwad lifestyle and reconnect with his BFF (and love), his family, and his comedic roots. And of course f...

Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin My rating: 2 of 5 stars 2 stars This book was a mess. First of all, it was set in the year 2000 but had absolutely no reason to be. It wasn't any different than a book set in 2023 except no one had smart phones. The book wasn't even accurate to 2000 with the phrase "main character energy" and very tight airport security. In a pre-9/11 world? No way. And I am not sure why this is categorized as a "romance" either. The two POV characters are Maryam and Anna, who become airplane friends, and it's more about their friendship and families? Also, they are both kind of spineless and passive in an irritating way. Just ask the boys you like if they have a girlfriend and if they want to go out with you is this so hard!! There is also inexplicably a Christmas/Holiday pageant they put on in the town they get stranded in because of Christmas snow reasons. I'm pretty sure they were...

The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3 stars I love a good found family book but this one was rather mid. The timeline and POV jumps made it confusing to follow the arc of Finn and Hannah's friendship (the two POV characters) and why Christmas mattered so much to them. They also didn't seem like friends. Even in the years they allegedly weren't fighting it seemed like they hardly spent any time together? And barely knew each other? I don't know but it was a weird vibe. This is another book that is being categorized as "romance" when it is more about the friendships. There is SOME romance but it's mostly at the end and not very impactful to the overall plot. I wish there was more focus on Finn and Theo getting together because a queer romance between two people in the Christmas Orphans Club seems like it would have some intriguing dynamics but it was glossed over completely because they get ...

A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss My rating: 3 of 5 stars 2.5 stars (rounded up) This book was fine but not as whimsical as I expected. The curio shop was not actually magical it was unfortunately only filled with some valuable antiques they sold for cash (of course). And the seemingly ageless cat that had always been at the shop/family ancestral home was never explained. And the book was mostly about the three half sisters cleaning out the dusty old shop and reconnecting with each other while completing a scavenger hunt and party planning as were the rules of the will their weird old dad left them. But the focus was more on other stuff I didn't particularly care about like having babies and property law. It was also very long and had POVs from all three sisters. If it was more tightly written and didn't dedicate so much to, like, housing and leases and focused more on the whimsy it would've been better, I think. Also, it starts wit...

Once a Rogue by Allie Therin My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars rounded up This series is what I consider a popcorn read where you consume it without thinking too hard about it and everything works out and you remember almost nothing once you're finished. This book is no exception. I like Sebastian but Wesley can be kind of grating with his "im the worst man on the entire earth how can you POSSIBLY like me" stuff it, man, you are not the worst AT ALL. The magic is also rather convenient especially in this book (which it was very convenient in the whole series) but you know what? sometimes it's nice to know everything will be fine. I am looking forward to their next book and hopefully Wesley stops with the thinking he's some unloveable monster crap and lives his truth of being a cat dad and doting boyfriend to Sebastian. I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. ...