Awakened by a Kiss series by Charis Michaels -> Restarting June 24th, 2024

[Aly]

An heiress with a plan…

Lady Helena Lark has spent years trying to escape her wedding to the vain and boring Duke of Lusk. She’s evaded, refused, even run away. When her family’s patience runs out, they pack her off to London to walk down the aisle. But Helena has another idea: find a more suitable bride to take her place, even if she must look for a replacement duchess every day.

A bodyguard with a job to do…

Declan Shaw, better known as “The Huntsman,” is a mercenary who can pick and choose his clientele. After his last job, escorting a young noblewoman to France, landed him in jail under false accusations, he wants nothing to do with aristocrats or women. But the law isn’t done with him, and if he agrees to babysit a duke’s errant fiancé, the payout could make his legal troubles go away.

A most unexpected alliance…

When their worlds collide, Declan realizes that containing his new client is only slightly harder than keeping his hands off her. Helena senses an ally in her handsome new bodyguard and solicits his help. Together they must escape the forces that oppose them and fight for the fairy-tale love they desire.

[Ashlyn]

Started the first book

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 1-5 (view spoiler)[I love that she is trying to get out of marrying the duke. I bet Declan will end up helping her at the garden party. And I thought it was funny she thought about her Gran when they kissed. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 6-10 (view spoiler)[I thought it was so funny that he wanted to throw one of the gifts at her mom! And it was sweet how she offered a place for his father and sisters to live. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 11-14 (view spoiler)[I love this book so much! It's so fun and the schemes she comes up with are amazing. Like getting away from her mom pretending she is sick? And I love that the dwarf names are the names she is using for the potential duchesses. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Finished (view spoiler)[I loved this one so much! And Knightly showing up at just the right time even though he was stalking him. I loved how they got married just in case too. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Hoping to start book 2 next weekend.

[Ashlyn]

Or next weekend.

[Ashlyn]

Still planning on continuing this series. I've just had an off reading month.

[Ashlyn]

I did start book two while I was camping.

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 1-7 (view spoiler)[ I'm super excited about seeing more of the pirates. I like that they've shared a kiss already and Jason wants her to go to Iceland with him. Enjoying this so far and like how it's been set up as a Peter Pan retelling. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 8-14 (view spoiler)[I want Isobel to stop resisting and just give in to Jason! And fake marriage would have been worth the effort.

Never mind!! I take that back. I feel for her that I almost want to cry! I cannot believe she lost her baby! (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 15-20 (view spoiler)[I love that he is willing to wait for her! I love this book so much!! (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[ I completely get why he wanted her to come to him and why she wanted him to come to her. I liked that he wanted to get married that second. But the ball was kind of boring. But I really loved the story overall and it got me out of a reading slump! (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Finally going to be starting book 1.

[Ashlyn]

Will be continuing this soon.

[Melanie]

Chapters 1-7
(view spoiler)[
I'm really enjoying this so far. I love that Helena instantly knew Shaw was there to spy on her and she called him out on it. The chemistry between these two is great. I'm interested to see how Helena's plan works out.
(hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Chapters 8-14
(view spoiler)[
I'm glad Declan has finally started fully supporting Helena's plan and with his help it has actually become a better one. I'm interested to see what happens when Helena gets all of these women together. I am loving the romance developing between Helena and Declan, I can't wait for more of that. Also, who is this person following the two throughout London?
(hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Finished book 1.



Chapters 15-21
(view spoiler)[
I love these two together. The way Helena sways Declan to her way of seeing things is great. I love that they ended up getting married so she couldn't marry the duke. I wonder who the person following them is? Are they an enemy? A friend?
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 22 - Epilogue
(view spoiler)[
So it was Knightly following them! I hadn't expected it to be her but I liked how she helped clear everything up for Declan and that she enchanted the duke which fixed things for Helena.
(hide spoiler)]

I really liked this one and definitely need to pick up the next book soon.

[Aly]

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RESTARTING SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2023

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[Ashlyn]

Hopefully reading the next one soon.

[Ashlyn]

I'll read this one in a few weeks.

[Ashlyn]

This one is a priority for this month.

[Kira]

Chapter 1-5: (view spoiler)[I always like the romances where a protector of some sort is involved and considering Helena is a strong headed woman who is determined to have her marriage called off, this would be a fun clash between the two personalities that is Helena and Declan. I am looking forward to how she challenges him every step of the way, questions his authority, infuriates him and fall in love along the way (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

Finished book 1.

Chapter 7-11: (view spoiler)[They are so inexplicably attracted to one another, keep finding ways to get closer but I wonder how Helena would convince her family to let her be with Declan once they eventually fall in love. I must say it is a clever plan to get other ladies interested in the duke in order to break off her engagement (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 12-16: (view spoiler)[Well Declan is not wrong to tell Helena that whatever it is between them, it has no future. Plus I am afraid Girdleston would really send him back to jail if he fails to guard Helena till the time of her marriage. It would be interesting to see how Helena defies all odds and saves her love. Jessica seemed like a good fit for the duke ngl (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17-22: (view spoiler)[I was hating the duke up until this point but now I am guessing even he is being forced into the union by his uncle just to have access to the rivers for mining, the uncle is the main villain here yikes. I did not expect Helena and Declan to get married so quickly but I liked that Declan was completely honest with her and even gave her the option to annul the marriage once it's safe (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[Oh my I did not count on Knightly returning to the scene, the crown was so evil for punishing Declan for Knightly's abduction when they themselves had her disappear. Somehow she and the duke ended up being perfect for one another and I am so happy for them. Declan and Helena got their happy ending too but I felt some action was missing in this book (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Starting book 3 next month.

[Kira]

starting book 2 in a couple of days

[Kira]

Chapter 1-5: (view spoiler)[It is an interesting premise to say the least with North being a spy and Isobel being an informant. It looks like she has gone through something pretty difficult in her past because of her reluctance to talk about it. I am curious to see how these two end up traveling together to Iceland when Isobel isn't even ready to answer North's questions about Iceland and the pirates yet (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 6-10: (view spoiler)[I definitely sympathise with both North and Isobel for everything they have been through and it would make for a good story to read about how they eventually fall in love. They are already attracted to one another and the stolen kisses are making everything much more dramatic. I want to know more about how Isobel got her heart broken and wether her mother had any role to play in it (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 11-16: (view spoiler)[Isobel has come up with such a dangerous plan to rescue the merchants and I am afraid something would go wrong and North would end up blaming himself. Her backstory with when she used to travel with her mother was quite adventurous but also harrowing and I liked how she kind of grew to trust North enough so that she was able to open up to him (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17-24: (view spoiler)[I certainly did not expect Isobel to escape so swiftly, I loved it honestly and then the proposal was simply out of this world. I am loving this book ngl. I also liked how Isobel did not jump into the romance blindly but asked for some time to settle into their lives and get a lay of how would things work when they are together. North willing to wait for her made everything so much more sweeter and I am in love with these two (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[I feel like the bo ok could have done without the ball and the showdown the her father's legitimate family, it got a bit dragging towards the end but I really liked how eager the duke was to make Isobel his wife. Also the bit about him choosing her absolutely warmed my heart. I liked it so much better than the first book and I am excited to finally pick the last one in the series (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Finishing this one up soon.

[Ashlyn]

Getting back to this soon.

[Kira]

Chapter 1-7: (view spoiler)[I am enjoying this so far although Drew's name is still confusing me a bit because in my mind, I can't connect it to the image of a flame haired woman ngl. Ivy seems amenable to the idea of being taught by Drew but Imogene is definitely going to be a challenge. I hope their mom has some pretty good reason to be so out of it and having them live in a despicable church for 5 years because otherwise she might just be the worst mother one could have (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8-15: (view spoiler)[Well that was an unexpected turn of events, I do not usually like books where the MC get married quickly because of the fear of causing scandal so it would be interesting to see if this turns out to be something different. I am glad to see Imogene opening up a bit more to Drew but she still has a lomg way to go. It was also great that Drew is not at all aversed to the idea of Ivy not making her debut this season if she doesn't want to (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 16-21: (view spoiler)[UGH I hate that they had such a dull wedding honestly, everyone deserves to be the happiest and glowing on their wedding day, this just seemed like they did what was obliged of them. I want to see a more deeper connection building between the two ngl, so far there is no doubt both of them are attracted to one another but not at the stage of being in love yet. Imogene is absolutely charming ngl, I have grown to love her over the chapters (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 22-25: (view spoiler)[Yikes Drew's mother was such an unsavory character, I hated every moment she was a part of the book. I can't imagine how difficult of a childhood Drew must have had with Blicken hovering all around her and I am just happy that she was able to build a life for herself away from the evil influence. I am still not very convinced about the romance though mostly because it seems like they simply pound upon one another every chance they get instead of having a meaningful conversation (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[I am disappointed that I was not nearly as impressed by the romance between the MCs as I had hoped to be given it was such an interesting storyline. I however did end up loving Imogene despite being afraid that she'd be my least favourite character. I also liked how both Ian and Timothea took accountablity for the way each of them let the twins down in their own way and I respect them openly acknowledging their faults (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Finishing this up soon

[Ashlyn]

I just got this one in the mail, hopefully will get to it soon.

[Ashlyn]

Hopefully will start next week.

[Ashlyn]

Hopefully reading this this month.

[Melanie]

I'll be getting back to this one soon, just finishing up some other buddy reads first.

[Ashlyn]

Continuing soon

[Ashlyn]

Starting soon

[Ashlyn]

Reading this month

[Ashlyn]

Still hoping getting to this this month

[Aly]

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RESTARTING JUNE 24TH, 2024

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[Melanie]

I will be reading book 2 next week.

[Ashlyn]

I started one of these books

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 1-8 (view spoiler)[Im enjoying this so far. I like that they were just put in this situation where she has to help him without really a good way out of it. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 11-15 (view spoiler)[I stopped reading this for a while so I kind of forgot what happened. Slowly coming back to me, but it’ll be interesting now that they are going to get married. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Chapters 16-22 (view spoiler)[Im having a hard time getting back into this story since it’s been so long. I feel like their relationship is moving quickly now that they are married but I love reading Ian’s thoughts and inner struggles with wanting Drew. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Finished (view spoiler)[I kind of forgot what happened at the end… oh wait yes, she went out in the storm to look for him and got lost and he had to go find her. And I’m just now putting together that her losing her shoe was part of the Cinderella theme… (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Started book 2 tonight.



Chapters 1-8
(view spoiler)[
I'm really enjoying this so far. I really like Isobel's character, I'm curious about her secret past in Iceland. I wonder what happened there that made her enemies? I really like the connection between her and North so far.
(hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

I will finish up book 2 this week.

[Melanie]

Got behind, will finish book 2 this week.

[Melanie]

Planning to finish this one up this week.

[Melanie]

Still planning to finish book 2 soon.