Accidentally Forever, (Montgomery Ink Legacy #8) Carrie Ann Ryan

 

Accidentally Forever (Montgomery Ink Legacy #8)

By: Carrie Ann Ryan

Recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌕 - (Out of 5 🌕)

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance

Length: 406 Pages

Pace: Fast

Moods: Emotional, Challenging, Dark, Hopeful, Tense, Sad, Happily Every After

                                                Release Date: April 14, 2025

Accidentally Forever was a tough book to read while at the same time it felt incredibly rewarding. The main characters are all struggling with different life issues. To see them overcome and conquer these issues at times made for an intense read. Crew could be overbearing and overprotective when is comes to Aria but Aria had no problems putting Crew in his place and letting him know she was able to stand up for herself. Having seen Aria and Travis in past stories, it was a relief for her to finally receive closure to her story. 

Aria is a wonderfully sweet and yet strong female character. Externally, Crew comes across as tough, his upbringing has forced him to create a protective barrier around himself but he is very protective of those in his life that he has grown to care for.

Aria Montgomery is a talented photographer who has struggled her entire life living in the shadow of her famous photographer father. Having started her own business that allows artists from all mediums to come together and show their work, Aria still struggles with confidence in herself. In prior Montgomery Ink Legacy stories we have been introduced to Aria's best friend Travis. It is obvious that Travis has a serious drinking problem and Aria's family has expressed concerns for her safety when she is around him.

Crew McTavish has always been an honorary member of the Montgomery family. Many have joked that he is attempting to marry his way into the family. Crew is an amazing painter who often shows his work at Aria's studio. Unknown to many, Crew did not have the best childhood, one of the reasons he spent so much time with the Montgomerys.

Many had considered Travis and Aria to be in a long term relationship, including Crew. After many months of Travis being abusive and an embarrassment at Montgomery family events, Aria turns to Crew in an effort to feel better about herself.

Accidentally Forever was a roller coaster of a story and at the same time it showed humanities resilience and ability to overcome.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

'Accidentally Forever' will be available April15th, 2025

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The Shepherd King Series, (One Dark Window, Two Twisted Crowns) Rachel Gillig

 

One Dark Window; Two Twisted Crowns  (The Shepherd King Series)

By: Rachel Gillig

Recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - (Out of 5 🌕)

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

Length: 419 Pages / 458 Pages

Pace: Fast

Moods: Emotional, Sad, Dark, Mysterious, Tense 

Release Date: September 27, 2022 / October 17, 2023

I am behind with reading this series. Not just behind, way behind. I was really excited to read One Dark Window when it released. There had been a lot of great social media buzz at the time. Unfortulnately, I lost track of my TBR list, now it's 2025, and I devoured both books in two days. I can whole heartedly admit that I am an idiot for waiting so long.

As an author, Rachel Gillig is incredibly talented. I don't say this about just any author I read and it is very rare for me to rate a book 5 out of 5, let alone the entire series 5 out of 5. So many elements to this series was perfection. The cover art is beautiful and each a detailed story for what the reader will find inside. The writing and prose are extremely well written. I didn't have a chance to make notes for either book because I was too focused on the storyline but the one item I felt compelled to highlight was this sentence, 'The orchestra was larger by three violins, and played louder now that the dinner hour had ended and dancing begun.' What a unique way to paint a picture as to how the volume of the music in the room increased. 

The world and character development are superb. Elsbeth and the Shepherd King as two consciousness in one body must have been a complex narration to write. The Shepherd King was not a very likable character for me but through the two books I began to see his depth. At first I was very wary of him, hated him for how he treated Elsbeth, I eventually grew sad for him and his back story, at the end of the story I mourned him. As a duloagy, we were given the perfect amount of story....not too long and drawn out but not too short, just the right amount of detail conveyed the story across the two books.

My current mood is utterly and completely lost. I am uncertain what to read next as nothing can compare to what I have just finished. I look forward to more from Rachel Gillig.

Brief Description.....

The citizens of Blunder have always had to stay away from the mist that surrounds their village. If they wander too far into the forest without their charms they run the risk of being coming infected. For 500 years Blunder has been this way, ever since the Shepherd King bartered pieces of himself for the creation of twelve Providence cards. Cards that give the yielder the magical ability. But for some of those that survive the mist's infection they develop their own magic, a dark magic. Elsbeth must find the thirteenth card before the winter solstice in order to bring the end to dark magic.

Amazon - One Dark Window 

Amazon - Two Twisted Crowns