Tag: Netgalley

Featured Book: Begin Again by Emma Lord

On By Star's Books & TeaIn Featured Book1 Comment

Click Here to Buy

Blurb:

Most Anticipated by Goodreads, Popsugar, BookRiot, E! News, The Nerd Daily, and More!

An Indie Next Pick

Filled with a friend group that feels like family, an empowering journey of finding your own way, and a Just Kiss Already! romance, Emma Lord’s Begin Again is an unforgettable YA novel of love and starting again.

As usual, Andie Rose has a plan: Transfer from community college to the hyper competitive Blue Ridge State, major in psychology, and maintain her lifelong goal of becoming an iconic self-help figure despite the nerves that have recently thrown her for a loop. All it will take is ruthless organization, hard work, and her trademark unrelenting enthusiasm to pull it all together.

But the moment Andie arrives, the rest of her plans go off the rails. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated when she discovers he transferred out of Blue Ridge to her community college. Her roommate Shay needs a major, and despite Andie’s impressive track record of being The Fixer, she’s stumped on how to help. And Milo, her coffee-guzzling grump of an R.A. with seafoam green eyes, is somehow disrupting all her ideas about love and relationships one sleep-deprived wisecrack at a time.

But sometimes, when all your plans are in rubble at your feet, you find out what you’re made of. And when Andie starts to find the power of her voice as the anonymous Squire on the school’s legendary pirate radio station–the same one her mom founded, years before she passed away–Andie learns that not all the best laid plans are necessarily the right ones.

“A gratifying romance.” – Publishers Weekly

Release Date: January 24th, 2023

My Thoughts:

I got this book via Netgalley. I really enjoyed this book very much. I’ll have a more detailed review up soon so I won’t give a few on review. I’m spotlighting it because I really felt seen with this book. Andie struggles with her self-esteem and has some major anxiety issues. I more than understand all of that. I wish I could buy copies for all of my friends!

New Review Guidelines

On By Star's Books & TeaIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

I have a flaw. I want to take on all review requests, all NetGalley books, and all blog tours. I want to support and promote authors and see them succeed in their goals and dreams. The problem is that I suck at time management and have fallen behind on reviews and deadlines multiple times. It makes me really look unreliable. In reality, I thought it was a brilliant idea to accept 20 book requests and tours that are all due in the same week. Then I shut down trying to figure out which one to prioritize. So, I’ve decided to develop some guidelines to practice going forward. I have some previous reviews and tours that I will keep as is. This is more for me personally. I’m hoping that this will help me hold myself accountable. I hope it will keep me from going overboard.

  1. I’m only taking on four projects a week. Period. If I have four NetGalley reviews, I won’t be taking on any requests or blog tours that are due on that week. Any of those can be swapped around. Four total. Whether it be NetGalley, requests, or tours.
  2. I am a slower reader. Unless it’s in an audiobook. I’d like to have at least a month out to review the book. I’d prefer two months, but one month minimum is acceptable for me. If it’s an audiobook, at least one week. Two weeks is preferable.
  3. I will post TikTok videos. I’m not the best editor, so the videos will mostly be me just talking about the book. I try to keep the videos shorter than three minutes.
  4. I don’t read erotic (where there’s no plot just sex) books at all. I also don’t read any book that glamorizes abuse of any kind. Sexual, mental, or physical.
  5. My reviews will be honest. If I don’t like the book and don’t finish it, I will message you personally. I do not review books that I do not finish. Please do not request that I change my star rating. How I rate the book is based on how much I loved it. 3 Stars= I really liked the book a lot, but I probably won’t reread it, 4 Stars= I really loved it! I might reread it, 5 Stars= I loved it. I will reread it. I want people to read it too and talk about it with me!
  6. I will make note of any typos I see and message you once I’m done reading to let you know about them. That will not be reflected in my review. My reviews will be intended for the story and my thoughts alone.
  7. I can’t review on Amazon. I made an account to do reviews on after they blocked me from reviews for no reason, but I just couldn’t get into writing reviews on it because I’m not fully sure they won’t shut that one down too. I do review on Goodreads, Instagram, TikTok, and my blog. I’m open to exploring reviewing other places too. Just request it and send me the book link for that site.

If you read this and are still okay with me doing a review, please feel free to email me at nikkiereads@starsbooksandtea.com

ARC Review: American Demon by Daniel Stashower

On By Star's Books & TeaIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment
https://amzn.to/3RI3iGr

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Title: American Demon

Author: Daniel Stashower

Release Date: September 6th, 2022

Page Count: 342

Start Date: September 1st, 2022

Finish Date: September 6th, 2022

Review:

This book follows Eliot Ness’ career and what he’s most known for. I found myself doing my own research through the entire book. I want to read more books about the Butcher. He’s considered America’s Jack the Ripper. The only reason I can think this is is because the case was never solved. This serial killer made Jack the Ripper look tame in my eyes. I feel like I don’t know enough about the case to make a full opinion on it. Even though it was referenced completely in this book. It mainly highlighted Ness’ involvement in the matter. It also highlighted other parts of his career as well. Including leading a team that became known as the Untouchables. There’s a movie or television shows about the team. I’m interested to see if it’s streaming so I can watch it. All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed developing the hunger to want to research and know more because of this book. I loved it so much that I bought a copy for my family to read.