Reading Fanatic Reviews
All Kindle Unlimited ReviewsNOTE: These books were in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program at the time that I posted the reviews. They may not still be in the program, as authors can opt out every 3 months. If you find a book that is no longer in the program, don’t hesitate to contact me, and I will update the review.
Sweet on You by Katana Collins
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Sweet on You*
More Than Romance
I have read several books by this author, and I have enjoyed some of her books but not others. So, I wasn’t sure what I was going to get with this one. I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed this book. It is definitely about a lot more than the romance, but I don’t want to give it away. Let’s just say the hero has some growing up to do, and the novel has an excellent story arc about that. I enjoyed the interactions between the hero and heroine as they were first trying to sort themselves out in the beginning, as there were some misunderstandings between them. Things shifted as the hero’s story arc became almost bigger than the romance. I feel like the story was a little out of balance in that regard for a romance. But the hero’s arc will definitely tug at your heartstrings. I found this to be a sweet and lovely romance that actually held a few surprises. If you like contemporary romance like that, you might enjoy this book.
Toxic Magnetism by Kara Lawrence
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Toxic Magnetism*
Needs Organization and Focus
The title and subtitle of this book do not wholly accurately reflect what the contents are. The author seems to imply in the subtitle that this is about the why and how of the toxic relationship between empaths and narcissists. It does include elements of both of those, but they don’t seem to be the main thrust of the book, which appears more to be about what a toxic relationship is and the dynamics of it.
I thought the book had some good information, even though I thought some topics were too short. I also think it needed better organization. The book starts with 15 danger signs of a toxic relationship. Given what the subtitle is, I think it would have been better to start with defining the terms, which comes a bit later in the book, as well as an introductory foreword aimed at the empath, the target audience of this book. This opening section could discuss some of what the book description talked about; namely we can sometimes have toxic patterns in our relationships that repeat over and over with different partners and that this book aims to help break a person out of that mold. Then she should have gone on to the definitions and set up what an empath-narcissist relationship looks like before teaching about how to escape this toxic pattern.
Instead, we are given a loosely organized and somewhat disjointed grab bag of information about empaths, narcissists, and what relationships between them look like. A little at the end has some about getting out of such relationships. Again I thought some information was a bit too skimpy, but there is definitely much food for thought here, especially if you are trapped in a cycle of this kind of destructive relationship and haven’t been able to see the patterns. This book could help you understand them more clearly. All in all, I think this was a good effort that needed more focus.
Work from Home by Michael Cobble
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Free with Kindle Unlimited
Work from Home*
Too Short and Generic
This book is so short that it could almost be considered a pamphlet. The author touches on some very basic ideas about how to make money from home. Honestly, so little is said in the book, that you can just about read the table of contents and take away about as much as if you had read the book itself. The subtitle seems to imply that he will mention specific companies that you can work for from home, but the only ones that I saw were the common freelancer sites (like Fiverr and Upwork) and an affiliate marketing hub. He very briefly goes over ideas like freelancing, selling online, blogging, and affiliate marketing among a few others. When I say briefly, I mean very, very briefly–he touches on ideas but gives no true guidance or blueprint if you are interested in a particular idea. Scattered throughout the book are a variety of affiliate links like to Aweber and Bluehost. To me, the book almost feels like it is just there to get you to click on his affiliate links. If you’re interested in working from home, I would suggest a different book that will help put you more firmly on the path to what you are hoping to achieve.
Speed Reading by Michael Cobble
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Speed Reading*
Standard Speed Reading Fare with One Twist
I have read a variety of books about speed reading as it is a topic that I find interesting as a reader and a writer. This particular book is a very quick read. I think the subtitle is a little overblown; reading faster doesn’t always necessarily lead to learning faster or achieving more. The author gives you a bird’s-eye view of a variety of common speed reading techniques and exercises. The ones shared are the ones typically found in books about speed reading. Interestingly, the author did share one idea I don’t typically see in speed reading books. He has a chapter on expanding your vocabulary as a means of improving your reading speed. The connection, of course, is not as direct as specifically working with the written page in a variety of ways, as you do with the techniques and exercises. But as I am a word person, I like the idea of anyone expanding their vocabulary, and if it serves the purpose of helping reading speed, that’s fine. Other than that, no new ground is really covered here, and some descriptions of what to do are too sparse for someone who is new to speed reading techniques and exercises. There were also issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage scattered throughout the book. I found it interesting, too, that this book seems to be a lead magnet to get you to buy a speed reading course, to which there is a link at the back of the book. If you are interested in speed reading but haven’t done much with it, I would recommend a more detailed book than this one.
Minimum Viable Marketing by Brandi C. Johnson
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Minimum Viable Marketing*
Solid Marketing Information for Business Owners
In the currently wild-and-crazy publishing field, so often nonfiction books have little substance, seeming to be cobbled together from a variety of websites and other sources. I am pleased to say that this book is not one of that ilk. The author has worked in marketing at a corporate level for a long time and has been coaching private clients as well. She brings her expertise and knowledge to this book that does offer incredible value even if it is clearly meant to be a lead magnet for her mailing list and services. The book is just chock-full of information.
First she defines marketing and what she considers to be the critical components of it these days, namely your website, email marketing, and what she calls amplification channels (like social media and other platforms); she suggests picking two of the latter to focus on. The book covers a broad range of topics. Even a brief glimpse at the table of contents makes you think, how minimum is this, really? There are so many pieces to the puzzle, and I actually do believe marketing is overwhelming these days for a small business owner or entrepreneur who doesn’t have a dedicated marketing staff.
For some topics, she goes into greater detail than others. She relates a fair amount of information about email marketing throughout the book, including down-to-brass-tacks ideas for your welcome series of emails. But even on topics that she doesn’t discuss at length (like YouTube and Pinterest), she gives solid tips and strategies. There’s a lot of talk about branding, niches, and other hot buzzwords in marketing these days. I will have to admit that as a struggling entrepreneur, I wish modern marketing wasn’t quite so complicated as it seems to be in these days of human-to-human marketing. If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, you will most likely find many nuggets of wisdom in this book that will help you level up your marketing game.
The Other Side of Yes by Mikayla Ryan
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Other Side of Yes*
Hero Totally Off-Putting
I am usually a reader who enjoys a second-chance-at-romance book. But I just could not get into this book because I thought the hero was pretty awful. He abandoned his pregnant girlfriend so he could see the world, letting her raise their son while she struggled through a pastry school and life after that. The author states that he did send money and came for occasional visits, but that last part was contradicted in the book several times when it was noted that the mother hadn’t seen the father since the child had been born. How could he have spent time with his son and not see the mother? Usually in these kinds of stories, the hero is at least a little contrite or want to make amends; he is typically introspective at least a little, which allows him to understand the mistakes he has made and appreciate the impact he has inadvertently had on other people (namely his child and the mother of his child). This one wasn’t any of that. When they meet again, he’s a smirking, joking jerk who frankly isn’t good enough to lick her boots. He just aggravated the heck out of me.
The Other Duet by Jessica Lynch
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Other Duet*
Excellent, Immersive Fantasy/Supernatural Read
Whenever I choose to review a box set like this one that tells a couple’s complete story over the course of a couple of books, I am never sure how much to give away of the story. I always like to say something, but I don’t want to spoil the fun for you if you choose to read the books. I found this to be a fun and totally immersive romantic fantasy/supernatural read. Now, not everyone might not see it as fun, but what I found to be so was that the author was able to write this book in such a way that it almost felt as if you were inhabiting the body and mind of the heroine as she first went through her normal daily life before she bought the mirror and then when it all went sideways after she fell through the mirror to the Other. We are literally with the heroin step by step as she moves from her ordinary world to this fantastical one, and we see it through her eyes and her thoughts so clearly. Hers is not the only perspective in the book, though. Hunter, the hero, is also a viewpoint character as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the supernatural aspect of it and how the Jersey girl heroine just could not believe that she was Artemis. The author has done an excellent job creating the world of the Other and its supernatural inhabitants. The heroine definitely shakes up that world. I enjoyed watching the evolving relationship between the hero and heroine. I loved that, in this box set, the author gave us a short story about Duds, the heroine’s cat. A thoroughly enjoyable duet.
The Favored Wife by Amy Pennza
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Favored Wife*
Will She Ever Be Free?
What a gripping story! I’ll admit that I don’t usually read serious fiction most of the time. Generally, I prefer light and fluffy historical romance. But something about this book when I saw it at a book review site caught my eye. The author did a fantastic job of showing the intricacies of a polygamous religious marriage. We see it all through the eyes of the youngest wife, somewhat ironically called “the favored wife” in the title. She has grown up within this religious sect so knows nothing else. When she gets a job in the outside world to help support the family (because she hasn’t been able to have children), she is definitely a naïve person, not even knowing what we consider to be common cultural references. Her world had been her “husband” Thomas, his other wives, and the children. The author paints a pretty harsh picture of dominance and submission and not just between the husband and the wives but within the sister-wife hierarchy. It is a brutal world that the heroine lives in. I don’t want to give too much away, but the megalomaniacal tendencies of the husband are seen through to a nasty conclusion that forces a separation between the heroine and the world that she has known. This is an emotionally charged read and not an easy one. The characters are well drawn, and we are shown this world in vivid detail through the character’s eyes. The plot is not at a breakneck pace. Rather, things seem to go along somewhat normally, but then bigger events happen. It kept me wondering what would happen next. This is a well-written book, but if you have any triggers about spousal abuse, it would be better if you skipped it.
Air Fryer Cookbook for Beginners by Elena Rose
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Air Fryer Cookbook for Beginners*
Yummy-Looking Giant Collection of Air Fryer Recipes
As someone who eats vegetarian and sometimes vegan but has a family of omnivores, I love a cookbook that has recipes for everyone. This book certainly fills the bill. It is a collection of over 600 recipes. It has the standard division by type of protein or ingredient, but I was delighted to find a specifically vegan section. Vegetarians will actually find quite a lot in this book even though it starts off with a parade of meat dishes. For vegetarians, there are sections on vegetables and sides, appetizers and snacks (many of which are vegetarian), rice and grains, and the vegan one I talked about. There is, of course, also a section for desserts as well as an “Air Fryer Favorites” section. Before the recipes, the book starts off with an introduction, with a couple of paragraphs of tips, mistakes to avoid, and benefits, etc. I thought the introduction was ordered kind of strangely. For instance, the second-to-last topic is the benefits. To me, that would seem like something to lead the intro section off with. But that is a minor quibble. The recipes that I looked at seemed relatively simple and straightforward, and some of them sounded quite tasty. The author does explore some international cuisines as well as healthful spins on American classics. The recipes I looked at appeared to be in proportion, which is always so important in any recipe but especially important when you’re dealing with a fixed-sized appliance like an air fryer. If you have an air fryer and are looking for inspiration, this could be just the ticket.
Bewitching You by Katana Collins
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Bewitching You*
Not What I’d Hoped
I was looking forward to a fun and sweet little Halloween romance, but unfortunately, this wasn’t quite it. First, I was turned off by the profanity in the book as well as some crude descriptions. I just don’t like books to have profanity. It’s one of my big dislikes and can sometimes set a bad tone for the entire book. I didn’t quite buy the relationship between the hero and heroine. They had a strange love-hate relationship that got sexual way too fast. If you don’t mind very steamy reads with little plot and some profanity, you might like this book.
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