Alyce Caswell - Author
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Book Reviews

A Charming Read

24/7/2024

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A Secret Garden by Katie Fforde

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Philly and her grandfather have run away from home - that is, moved to England to pursue their independence and indulge in gardening and cooking respectively. Philly's work leads to a friendship with Lorna, who is trying to make a rundown estate respectable again - and trying to move on after decades of unrequited interest. Gardening is rewarding...and so is cultivating new relationships.

This was a charming, uncomplicated read that managed to smooth out a stressful week for me. Philly and her grandfather were my favourite characters, though I really did feel for Lorna. This book was oddly old fashioned for 2017 and seemed to reflect that the author hadn't updated her view of the world (and familial relations) in a really long time. Perhaps it should have been set in an earlier decade.

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Oh no. Oh no no no no.

18/7/2024

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Icebreaker (Maple Hills #1)
by Hannah Grace

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Anastasia is aiming for gold at the Olympics in paired figure skating and she does not have time for a committed relationship - and she absolutely does not have time for Nate, whose hockey team is the reason that Maple Hills now has only one ice rink that everyone has to share. But Nate isn't the type to give up. He's determined to make her like him. He'll even get his face between her legs to do it.

This was... not what I expected - and I really, really dislike it when a blurb misrepresents the story of the book it's attached to. Nate being a stand-in skating partner was such a tiny part of things and could have been excised from this bloated mess. You can't convince me that a structural edit occurred at any stage. As for characters... most of them felt like names on a page instead of actual people. As for steamy scenes... hey I'm usually into that, but I prefer to read books where these scenes are used to convey the development of a relationship. It gets boring when they're just filler.

I've read a lot of debuts. Some can be rough. Few feel so amateurish as this one. Maybe the author gets better with the other books in this series, but I have limited time and I'm not risking any of it on another attempt.

EDIT: Oh. Just discovered that this started as a Wattpad book. This explains A LOT. I avoid these for reason... damn it, I should have checked and saved us all from a grumpy a review.

TW: eating disorder, sexual assault, emotional abuse

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    About

    ​Alyce Caswell, when she isn't drinking her way through a giant pot of tea, can be found dabbling in multiple genres and writing forms. She has self-published several titles in her space opera family saga, which is divided into two series: The Galactic Pantheon and The Pantheon War. Her most recent book is The Shadow of the Gods.

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  • Home
  • Books
    • The Galactic Pantheon >
      • The Tortured Wind
      • The Twisted Vine
      • The Flickering Flame
      • The Shifting Ice
      • The Whispering Grass
      • The Creeping Moss
      • The Galactic Pantheon Novellas
      • The Adventures of Grace Pendergast, Galactic Reporter
    • The Shadow of the Gods
    • Dealing with the Demon
    • Love and Lockdown
    • The Eyes of Charon
    • Sweet Delights
  • Other Works
  • Book Reviews
  • Get in Touch