“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series for
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
maybe cowboys were the secret sauce all along because... yikes at this new spin off series without them. i havent given a book a one star in a very lomaybe cowboys were the secret sauce all along because... yikes at this new spin off series without them. i havent given a book a one star in a very long time...
i dont really want to give this book too much more energy, but this will probably end up being my biggest disappointing read in 2024. the very basic premise is that this is a new series, and a new town, that is one province over from chestnut springs. this stars willa’s, from heartless, older brother, ford, and his best friend’s little sister, rosie, who was also his childhood friend. and let preface this with the fact that willa is my favorite heroine of the chestnut springs series, so this just really feels extra bad to me.
at the very start of the book, ford realizes that he has a twelve year old daughter who is going through a very difficult time currently and has no one else to turn to. cora (the daughter) really pulled at my heart and i really did enjoy reading about her finding this family and feeling loved and safe and accepted. i will say that her story might be a little emotionally manipulative, to make the reader feel something big considering the rest of this book is not so great, but for the sake of saying at least one nice thing - i really did like cora. but she doesn’t talk like a twelve year old, her actions are really not that of a twelve year old (even one who had to grow up extremely quickly), and some of the conversations she has with the adults do feel really weird. (i really recommend this review!)
ford has been a billionaire since birth, but he is more rich now, but he was kind of dorky in the past, and that’s his personality. rosie… i feel elsie read the words “bratty bottom” somewhere and was like “im gonna do that with rosie!” and truly failed miserably lol. i mean, she is bratty for sure, but just annoying and insufferable to read. especially when said brattyness shows up when he is literally taking his child to deal with some really sad and heavy shit. also, from talking about others' privilege when you have a family boat house to escape to when you have no income, from ruining macbooks during sex and ruining rooms with paint just for funsies, from calling others out but ignoring you have accepted a 100k signing bonus because you and your boss are starting a romance, like… it was just not fun to ever read about her or from her. there is a lot of bad in this book, but rosie was the worst for me to read.
also elsie silvers beta readers must hate her (view spoiler)[because what do you mean there is a mini discussion on privilege with apparently the billionaire/nepo baby learning it for the first time, and then the next chapter is him immediately proceeding to go to a police station where him and his white friend are all happy and friendly with the cops? like... actually speechless. (hide spoiler)]
but yeah, i think that’s everything. the romance was forced, the talk of privilege was literally grating, and i didn’t care about anyone except for the twelve year old who didn’t read like a child. she is setting up a tea shop owner who i was kind of intrigued by, but this book left such a bad taste in my mouth that i do not think i will be continuing. also, i hope when rosie’s brother gets a book that the author and publishing team will actually hire sensitivity readers for rosie’s nephew, especially after reading so much carelessness with this book.
trigger + content warnings: sexual assault at work place (unwanted touching), mention of loss of father (als), grief, depression, child neglect, blood mention, harry potter mention, power imbalances, talk of periods, talk of cheating in past (not mcs), mention of off page misogyny, talking about someone's sa without their permission, unwanted photographs being taken (paparazzi), police station scene, one sentence mention of a school shooting very lightly in the epilogue (like… what)
this is the first book by ali that i haven't loved and i am really sad about it. i feel like everyone has beARC provided by the publisher via Libro.fm
this is the first book by ali that i haven't loved and i am really sad about it. i feel like everyone has been begging for her (and emily henry) to give us that dual point of view, but man oh man i wish ali never did. I think a lot of it is because one of our main character’s povs is 1st person, and then the other is 3rd person, and even though i did find a groove while reading, each time i picked up the book it was jarring getting to that groove again.
but the basic premise of the stem romance is that one of our main characters, rue, is a biotech engineer who has a passion for fermentation and extending the shelf life of foods because of immense poverty trauma in her past. she is currently working with a company she really loves and she is also working on her own patent for food preservation. after a night with an attempted app hookup that kind of goes really wrong (but also really right despite not hooking up), the next day she goes to work and realizes that this mystery guy, eli, is part of another tech company who is going to buy the loan contract of her current company and that leaves a lot of uncertainty for her and her coworkers/friend’s futures.
i see a lot of people disliking this one because of the more explicit sex, so please know that going in, but that truly didn’t bother me. well, maybe it did just because i didn’t love eli in this, so i always would want to be in rue’s head, even during the sex scenes. what i really didn't like (which i didn’t even talk about in the premise because it feels like the only time i was brought up was to further the mc’s love story), is a subplot with rue’s brother that just left a really bad taste in my mouth. i talk in a lot of reviews about how much my little brother means to me, so maybe i was just being extra sensitive, but it just felt really bad to read (and really bad to not really have a conclusion for). and honestly? i felt like the big storyline (view spoiler)[about mentor manipulation and lying (hide spoiler)] was done much better in love, theoretically, and felt a lot better for the reader, too.
i really enjoyed seeing rue realize that she doesn’t deserve bad things, and her healing and slowly feeling safe in her vulnerability, but besides that? i just couldn’t connect with the romance of this one, on top of the brother storyline not feeling good to read. I still will very much be picking up deep end , but i hope you all enjoy the reading experience of not in love more than i did.
content warnings from the author(please use caution for potential spoilers): I know genre definitions can be a bit blurry, but I consider Not in Love to be an erotic romance, so… lots of sex scenes, explicit and graphic. More than usual. An unnecessary amount, perhaps. It’s how these two emotionally constipated people communicate, at least at the start. Childhood poverty and food insecurity. Anxiety around food, mostly due to past food insecurity. Mentions of addiction (secondary characters). Social anxiety. Parental death (accidents, illness) (off page, in the past). Parental neglect. Power exchange (pre-negotiated, during sex. Attempted assault of the FMC by her brother (she is unharmed). Pregnancy of a secondary character. Cursing and vulgar language.
other trigger + content warnings i found while reading (ali's books really do have such good tws - i am always so thankful and impressed): grief, infidelity in past mentions (not mcs) but also a weird comment about cheating made my the mc once, childhood abandonment, one sentence mention of an animal dying during animal testing.
when i heard sapphic medusa reimagining with a dark academia setting, i knew i couldn’t resist reading this for tosalted pasta water is still crazy...
when i heard sapphic medusa reimagining with a dark academia setting, i knew i couldn’t resist reading this for too long. and this book is that! and i really loved the romance! and i will always love seeing women getting revenge and healing the way they want to heal against horrible acts committed against them!! but this is a dark book that really centers on sexual assault at this college, so please use caution and take care of yourselves while reading. (i would say just skip chapter 2 when the on page rape happens, but different assaults happen and are discussed throughout this entire story.)
after chapter two, we get to see lex almost a year later, back at the university that did nothing to protect her and everything to protect her rapist, and she is ready to get that revenge that she deserves. she is also ready, with the help of her sister, to take revenge for people who feel voiceless and put fear in the men who walk around campus feeling untouchable after making people feel voiceless. but when a girl who is supposed to be part of lex’s personal revenge starts to feel like something she has always wanted, things get a little more complicated.
i really liked the romance in this. going into this book, i was scared because i knew it had a revenge element, but i didn’t feel any weird power dynamics, there was no bullying towards one another, and i felt like both girls just truly liked each other from the very start. i also felt like luna’s journey in realizing she is bi was really thoughtfully done and realistic. and i also really respected and enjoyed lex’s portrayal for always knowing she is a lesbian. i know the salted pasta water is still crazy, but the sex scenes were actually extremely well done - maybe some of the best i've read. and i just really enjoyed watching this romance unfold.
i just really respected what this book and story is, and i wish we got more books like this. i wish we got more empowering books about women getting revenge on the people who have committed these acts that our broken systems don’t accurately punish them for. And i also wish we got more books of just girls falling in love, girls discovering their sexuality, and girls having all different kinds of relationships - some quiet, some loud, some slow, some fast, some light, some heavy. (i feel like some of the comments i am seeing about the romance/sex in this book… you all are not saying this to the 500 m/m romances we get every year. i really appreciate this story and what it is doing for so many reasons, but also the reason the baseline fact that we need more sapphic stories of all kinds.)
i also “enjoyed” (it feels weird to say that for this but…. i just think it's an important conversation) seeing the discussion on how men/society can treat lesbians because the world cannot fathom someone not being attracted to men in some shape or form or way. How people will say you're just confused, or you just haven't had a good experience with a man yet, because it is impossible for some people to wrap their minds around their own unimportance (and their misogyny). i am pan, but i really respected that being shown in this book, because i sadly do think that is a reality for so many people who aren’t interested in men romantically or sexually and it should be talked about (and unlearned) more.
overall, i just really am happy this book exists for many reasons. i loved the sapphic romance and seeing these two girls heal and realize that they deserve good and safe things, maybe even with the unconditional help and support from one another. and i also really respected what the author did with these darker themes and the helplessness people often feel. i'm not saying this was a perfect book by any means, but i am thankful for it and i really hope this author writes more sapphic romance in the future, because i will be preordering.
trigger + content warnings: rape and sexual assault (on page, many different depictions, and talked about through the entirety of this book), not being believed after sa, predatory behavior, drugging, vomit, misogyny, snakes, blood, bullying, child abuse mentions, abusive parents, graphic physical abuse, ptsd, nightmares, harry potter mentions, torture, gore, violence, homophobia (in a negative light always), use of slur for lesbians, suicidal thoughts in past, murder
for december 2023, i really was trying to embrace my holiday book era! and lovelight farms was my favorite of them all. but i do want to preface this for december 2023, i really was trying to embrace my holiday book era! and lovelight farms was my favorite of them all. but i do want to preface this with the fact that this doesn’t really feel like a winter holiday book, but more of a autumn holiday book! but i still really just fell in love with this story, these people, and this small cozy town.
in this story, we follow stella who has recently purchased a farm and lives in the cottage on the property! she is really struggling financially, and decides to enter a competition held by a very famous social media person, but while she is applying she says that she is in a relationship and they both are renovating this old farm. so when she is picked for the final portion of the contest, where the host will visit the destinations, stella recruits her best friend, luka, to pretend to be her boyfriend.
this was truly the best friends to lovers i have ever read. it was so believable, so beautiful, and was truly a joy to read. Both of these characters always showing up and being there for each other during some of their darkest parts of life to some of the brightest joys of life was just so endearing to read. to see them prioritize their relationship platonically through the years was just very sweet, and i know these are fictional characters, but oh my gosh do i wish them just lifetimes of happiness together.
i really enjoyed this one and i can’t wait to continue on with this series and fall more in love with this community.
trigger + content warnings: storylines surround financial debt, loss of a parent in past, talk of cancer in past, talk of hospital settings in past, childhood abandonment in past, anxiety, grief, panic attacks, ptsd, a harry potter mention, a lot of alcohol consumption, mention of infidelity (not mcs)
i have loved a lot of tessa bailey in my life, but i think this is probably my least favorite. look, when i saw the mcs were named beat and melody i ri have loved a lot of tessa bailey in my life, but i think this is probably my least favorite. look, when i saw the mcs were named beat and melody i really should have taken that as a sign to just dnf quietly, but i actually did like the set up and i was intrigued to where the story would go.
basically, our mcs are connected by their mothers, who used to be in a popular band together. they met once when they were both around 15 and really liked each other, and now, 15 years later, when they are both 30, they are coming together once again because of a reality tv show that wants their moms to get back together at rockefeller center on christmas.
i just… hated all the parents in this book. even the ones that were deemed “the good parents” were still doing really shitty things and lying to their kids. i feel like that ultimately is what ruined the story for me, but also…. i just didn’t really like beat… which i feel bad saying, because i know he was going through some stuff, but his inner and outer monologues were always just so intense and over the top, it really hurt the romance for me.
overall, i only like melody, i didn’t like the romance, i didn’t like the lying/withholding information plots, and even though we got a december countdown - this book didn’t have christmas vibes.
trigger + content warnings: blackmail. anxiety, parental abandonment, emotional abusive parents, paparazzi / media invading spaces, hurtful and abusive media coverage, ptsd, talk of body image, a scene with a cult, a scene with police + a police station, a lot of talk of pregnancy
let me preface this entire review by saying that i do believe you should read at least part of your world in this loosely connected series. i didn’t feel like this about yours truly, because you just see overlapping friendships between characters - which is really cool, but i don’t think would hinder any reading experience! But i truly am not sure if i would have given this book five stars, if not for also reading part of your world! so again, totally do whatever you wanna do, read these however you want to read them, but i just recommend reading at least part of your world (which is probably the best romance book i’ve read in years, so it will be a fun side quest, i promise)!
now that that is out of the way - let me actually talk about the book itself! The basic premise is that a girl read a reddit post that makes her realize the poster and her have one thing in common: they both are the person people date before they find their soulmates. So emma (28, traveling nurse) slides into justin’s (op, 29, engineer) about this curse they both may have, but then they start talking about other things and realize that they actually have more in common than their nonexistent love lives. they come up with a plan to maybe try to break this spell by dating each other on emma’s next traveling assignment, where she will come to minnesota where justin is at. and maybe, much like another book i loved this year - funny story, justin can convince emma to fall in love with his state, and maybe even want to set up some roots even though she lives a life constantly moving from place to place with her best friend.
firstly, i love justin, i love emma, i wish them both the very best in life, but their friends, in particular maddy, oh they have my entire heart. this is a love story, without question, and this has a lot of heavy themes of grief and childhood neglect, but to me, this is a story about friendship, support systems, and being there for the people you love in life, no matter what. from justin’s friends knowing exactly what to do to lightening the weight in his life, to emma’s best friend maddy, who gave her so many different types of love throughout this book and truly is probably the best book friends i’ve ever read about in my life, to justin’s mom’s best friend who makes me cry even thinking about. this is just such a book about showing up for people, and also feeling like you trust people to show up for you, even when others in the past have made you a person who does not trust easily. these themes just really set this book apart for me, and is the reason this will be one of my favorite books of 2024.
other things i loved: first dates with kittens!! questionnaires/google forms letting the person know what you like on dates! i know a lot of medical travelers and it was really cool reading a mc who does it! also, accurate med surg stereotype commentary, alongside accurate vegas stereotype commentary lol. you’re never too old to make new connections, and healthy relationships, with respected boundaries (romantically, but also with friends and family and anyone you choose to share your life with)!
overall, if you’re looking for a really good romance, following two people healing from their pasts, both together and apart, and truly creating a healthy life for themselves, while also being such a love letter to friendships and all relationships (again, not just romantic ones), then please pick this up. i knew i was going to like this, but i didn’t expect to love it so very much and be impacted by the story so very deeply. and if you need a reminder, you are not the sum of the bad things in your past, especially stuff that was beyond your control. and it’s never too late to get the help, or extra resources, that you deserve. and you always deserve to live a healthier life, surrounded by people who appreciate you and love you unconditionally.
lastly, abby - please give us the maddy (view spoiler)[and doug’s (hide spoiler)] book. I am on my knees writing this review, begging you, please.
trigger + content warnings in the front of the book (it also says there should be a full list of more tw/cw on the author’s website and goodreads, which i couldn’t find to link as of august 5th, 2024, but i still always appreciate when they are in books): scenes containing panic attacks, anxiety, ptsd, depression, depictions of undiagnosed mental health issues, a toxic mother, and past child neglect.
additional trigger + content warnings i wrote down while reading: talk of loss of father in past (car accident where the other person was drinking and driving), abandonment, abusive parents, neglect in past, child starvation in past, gaslighting, manipulation, a few hospital settings (only because of the profession of one of the mcs), talk of foster systems, grief, a parent going to prison, one sentence regarding suicide, vomit, sickness (norovirus), talk of menstruation, headlice, and talk of loss of grandparents in past.
i didn’t love this book as much as Part of Your World , but i still really fell so hard for both of these characters. ther1.) Part of Your World ★★★★★
i didn’t love this book as much as Part of Your World , but i still really fell so hard for both of these characters. there was just a little too much miscommunication for me upon closing this, but again… i have so many more positive things to say than negative. i highly recommend, but please use caution if you feel yourself dealing with a little more health anxiety than normal (hi, it’s me).
i just really enjoy seeing these people, in their 30s, find love, find happiness, find healing. And the discussion of having healthy pregnancies in your 30s as well! all of these things are so normal, but i feel like society makes them never showcased or celebrated or even normalized, so reading this series is a little bit of a breath of fresh air, truly. (it feels wild saying that, but it’s true)
this book very much also focuses on a character who has a lot of anxiety - and that is also normalized and constantly focused on talking and learning things can exacerbate his anxiety and symptoms, and things that he can use as preventative methods. again, very normal things, but this book just makes them feel extra normal and extra seen, and i just appreciate it so very much (and i know so many other readers do as well)!
trigger + content warnings: hospital settings, a lot of mentions of losing patients, surgery prep discussions, kidney failure, anxiety, ptsd, panic attacks, depression, infidelity in the past, parental abandonment in past, suicide mention in past, mention of loss of a parent in past (one sentence), brief mention of miscarriage in past. (spoiler for plot point in the book) - (view spoiler)[unplanned pregnancy. (hide spoiler)]
apparently i am carrying over cowboy romances into 2024! sadly, this one was my least favorite in the chestnut spri1.) Flawless ★★★★ 2.) Heartless ★★★★
apparently i am carrying over cowboy romances into 2024! sadly, this one was my least favorite in the chestnut springs series, but i still had a good time with it, i just think childhood friends to lovers will never be my favorite trope. this follows sloane, who is cousins with everyone on harvey’s ranch (obviously she is then harvey’s niece!) and jasper, who is best friends with beau and was pretty much adopted by harvey when he was in highschool. he is now a professional hockey player, and this book starts out with him attending sloane’s rehearsal dinner. the next day… friends, this is almost a 400 page book, i am sure you can guess why the wedding the next day doesn’t go as planned.
again, i did enjoy this one, i really liked the sex scenes, I really like the road trip element, but i just didn’t love them as a couple as much as i wish i did. i still am very endeared by both of them, but i just wasn’t nearly as invested as i was with the first two installments of this series! But i predict many more yeehaws to come in 2024. (oh my gosh… what if the reason i didn’t love this was because hockey player + ballerina does not equal cowboy. wow, that’s some cursed girl math for me.)
trigger + content warnings: loss of sibling in past, cheating (not mcs), blood, missing person, bullying in past, domestic abuse in past, houseless teen in past, anxiety, abandonment in past, child neglect, suicidal ideation in past, ableist word for people with disabilities, a lot of thoughts of food and kind of dieting / restricted eating in the past mentions, grief, vomit, ptsd, fatal car accident in past
“I’d give everyone the me they wanted, needed, craved, and in exchange they’d care about me.”
i actually feel like the first half of this was five
“I’d give everyone the me they wanted, needed, craved, and in exchange they’d care about me.”
i actually feel like the first half of this was five stars for me, but sadly the ending just got a little away from me. but I do think Ali Hazelwood is an author that just really works for me, and will continue to work for me, because i really just enjoy her settings and characters and she so easily makes me feel so much for them. i also feel like you can just tell that she really puts her whole heart into so much of the content she is putting into her stories, and i just really love seeing and feeling that a lot.
in this book, elsie has type 1 diabetes and is in desperate need to get a job with insurance that will allow her to get the insulin she needs to live, and her being an adjunct professor does not give her that. nor does her job of being a fake girlfriend for people who need a plus-one at social functions. but maybe if she can finally get a job with good insurance as a full time researcher at MIT. that is, until the head of the physics institute recognizes her because she has been fake dating his brother.
i know that is quite the set up, but this book really does have a lot of good in it that really worked for me. Some aroace rep, talk of power imbalances in stem spaces, an amazing best friend and her amazing hedgehog, themes of how the past can shape us but we can always choose to be better and do better, and how sometimes it can feel easier to be the person you know someone wants you to be, and how it can be so very scary to let people in and show them the real you. i really loved the romance in this, and the sex in this, and had a goofy grin on my face while reading. Oh! and an adam and olive cameo .
content warnings from the author: Chronic Illness (Type 1 diabetes), Financial insecurity and lack of health insurance, Sexism, Gaslighting by a mentor within an academic setting, Death of a parent by illness (off page, in the past), Explicit and graphic sexual content, Cursing and vulgar language
other trigger + content warnings i found while reading: seizure mention in past, abusive parents, abusive relationship in past, child health issues, insulin scare in past, glycemic attacks, insect + spider mentions, a joke about bed bugs, vomit, allergic reaction mention with epipen used, ration medication, lack of total consent in past / sexual assault in past, anxiety, and something happens that kind of makes someone come out - i don't want to say forced to come out - and the mc apologizes and acknowledges this - but i could potentially see this triggering to some readers so use caution.
oh friends, this is truly a new all time favorite romance book
this book starts out with a very unexpected meet cute, in a small stars hollow like townoh friends, this is truly a new all time favorite romance book
this book starts out with a very unexpected meet cute, in a small stars hollow like town, when one of our main characters tows the car of our other main character. they get to know each other a little bit in the local pub and decide to spend the night together when they quickly realize how much they both like eachother even though it feels like they come from different worlds, rather than just different towns.
oh, and this man, daniel? HE IS AN INNKEEPER! He owns the local inn! If you have been reading my reviews for years, you will know… this such a niche box for me and this man was checking it and more! our other main character, alexis, is a er doctor who is trying to follow in her family’s very large footsteps at a hospital that they opened the doors of many generations ago. but one of the main things i really loved about this story was that she quickly sees how this small town doesn’t have adequate medical resources for her - from mental health help, to preventive care help, to being able to deliver babies, to emergency and much more - everything they have to go to the town over. And this is a very big problem that is pretty close to my heart as well, and it just meant a lot to me that a romance author made it a focal point of her book. alongside another very important discussion of domestic abuse and how that can take many forms, from physical to mental to emotional to everything in between, and how none of those are lesser or less scary and difficult to navigate to safety. this book also includes some really good resources for help in the back, too.
i also just loved how this book focuses on how surrounding yourself with kind and caring people makes you want to be more kind and caring. both platonic and romantic love is so important and just finding people who you truly want to constantly make your world better with really is what life is all about. but yeah, friends, i just loved this one with my entire heart. it was a very unexpected favorite, and i really will recommend it forever.
trigger + content warnings: this book really talks about domestic abuse and how that can take many emotional and physical forms, talk of lack of medical care in a community, talk of serious health issues, talk of mental health and not being able to get medication, brief mention of heart attack in past, abusive parents, parental abandonment, mentions of loss of grandparents in past, a scene of an emergency childbirth, blood, mention of loss of patients in medical career (one sentence of loss of child patient), one sentence funeral mention, minor car accident, one sentence mention of sex trafficking, mention of cheating in past (not mcs), panic attack, depression depiction, and i wouldn’t necessarily say hospital setting but this book very much talks about the medical field and being an er doctor so please use caution.
[image] ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
i feel like before i can say anything about this book, i just have to let you all know that i was bo[image] ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
i feel like before i can say anything about this book, i just have to let you all know that i was born and raised in michigan (and started this goodreads account in michigan), even though i moved out west after college. but it is also important to know that michigan people love other michigan people! lol like, i am giggling while typing this, but it is also very true and i have never seen another state have this kind of instant comradery before. my family still lives about three hours away from the traverse city area, but i’ve been there so many times, especially during the summer. and this very long prologue of a review is just to say that emily henry really captured the magic of what is a michigan summer and it was absolutely perfect in my opinion. i’m also not sure a book has ever made me miss home as much as the setting of this book, and i just really wanted to emphasize how phenomenally done it was to me, and i would bet a lot of money she has lived there at some point in her life.
okay the actual review - i think i can make a dot here: this book is, ironically enough, a story about one person trying to convince another person to build a home and life in a sleepy little michigan city. but let me not forget to type that these two people’s lives have crossed because both of their significant others have decided to leave them for each other! and our main character, after being dumped the morning after her fiance's bachelor party, has nowhere to go because she picked up her life and moved it to where she thought she would finally set up roots. so she moves in with her ex’s new girlfriend’s ex (this feels so hard to type out lol), and each chapter starts with a countdown of how many days until a fundraiser at her work, at a local library, happens and then she will be able to leave. but maybe she can actually still set up those roots after the fundraiser, but in an even healthy and happier way (filled with some good healing along the way).
“That's what happens when your life partner leaves you for the nicest, sunniest, prettiest woman in the state of Michigan.”
everyone is going to talk about this book on all platforms, so instead of me telling you more about this book, let me tell you some things i really loved about this story with some bullet points (besides the michigan bias, obviously):
➛ there is a very big difference between niceness and kindness and this book really shows that throughout.
➛ as you get older, making new friends can be way harder! and friendship breakups can be just as devastating as romantic breakups! but also, it can be really worth it to let people in, even after you’ve been hurt by doing so with others - maybe especially after that.
“You can't untell someone your secrets. You can't unsay those delicate truths once you learn you can't trust the person you handed them to.”
➛ this book also talks about some parental abuse that i honestly do not think i’ve ever read about before, and i know it is going to mean a lot to a lot of people. also the way that miles handles that trauma in the present day was something that really made me feel seen and meant more to me than i have words to put in a review here.
“I need it to be okay. Because I need to be okay. As a kid, I just felt so fucking scared and powerless, all the time, and now, I just need to be okay.”
➛ and this is also just such a book about community, and carving out space and safety and love with the people who you trust and want to build a home with. especially when you’ve lived a life of not really having much stability, and the thought of it being taken away makes you scared to start to build it.
➛ libraries will always be the heart of cities, with some of the most powerful tools we have to amplify voices and create change. i am actually typing this up during national library week here, and i just can't emphasize enough how important these buildings, these safe spaces filled with heart, and these librarians are. i would get so emotional when daphne would talk about the kids at her branch, and the books she’d pick because of them. ahhhh, a reminder to just show up for your local library, do donations if you are able (time, books, and money), make sure your library card is updated, just show your appreciation in every way you’re able to.
“To me, libraries have always represented the best of humanity. The way we all share knowledge and space, and... and how we find ways to look after each other. It's not a perfect system, but it's powerful.”
overall, this just had so much to love. actually, as i am typing this i am considering making this a five star. I’m just not sure if i loved this as much as beach read, but it is for sure a new favorite emily henry of mine. but miles is for sure the best love interest she, or maybe any other contemporary author, has ever written. and i absolutely cannot wait to watch you all fall with both him, and daphne, and their amazing funny story.
trigger + content warnings: drinking, smoking, a joke about suicide, brief mention of fetishization (to a side character and in a negative light), parental abandonment and neglect and and instability in past, child abuse in past, mention of loss of parents in past (side character), one sentence mention of cancer (side characters parent), anxiety depiction, and just a story about people going through a really hard break up that has a little bit of infidelity vibes (even though no cheating did occur to them)
“Just knowing you existed somewhere in this world was enough.”
i am so sad that i didn’t love this one as much as book one in1.) King of Wrath ★★★★
“Just knowing you existed somewhere in this world was enough.”
i am so sad that i didn’t love this one as much as book one in this series. and ana even gave me a filipino main character - who i loved and adored so very much. the love interest even gave her a secret library to write in (with a book reading scene that will not be forgotten by me)! but even though this was an enjoyable read for me, i did feel like it dragged a lot at times. or maybe the “big secret reveal” just was a little too wild for me and the build up of it throughout this book. but i just love this author, everything she is doing and giving to the book world, and i still had a good time with this story! i will for sure be picking up book three this fall!
trigger + content warnings: loss of parent in the past, assault (unwanted grab), grief, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, mention of drug use + overdose, stalking, paparazzi (unwanted photos being taken without consent), gun violence, blood, blackmail, infidelity in past, mention of medical misdiagnosis mentioning a tumor.
i’ll be honest, the reason i really wanted to read flawless was because so many friends promised me that i would adore the second boo1.) Flawless ★★★★
i’ll be honest, the reason i really wanted to read flawless was because so many friends promised me that i would adore the second book in this series. and they weren’t wrong. but i think the reasons why i really enjoyed this one actually ended up surprising me.
this is a grumpy sunshine, age gap, single dad romance between said dad and the nanny he reluctantly hires for the summer (who also happens to be the main character from flawless’ best friend)! i am not even sure if i’ve ever read a single dad romance before, but seeing this child, whose mom has up and left, also fall in love with this nanny who makes him feel safe and loved and happy… it just really melted and healed my heart so very much. this book very unexpectedly got a lot of tears out of me. And that last page? that was so beautiful oh my gosh.
okay but the nanny, willa? maybe a new all time favorite romance heroine for me. i loved all her little moments in the first book of this series, i loved her in the first scene in the coffee shop, and she just kept making me fall more and more in love with her, too. i feel like a lot of authors try to make quirky characters, and they just end up being kind of annoying and not enjoyable to read, but willa was the best kind of quirky. she honestly felt very real to me, and just was truly pure sunshine to read. i won’t lie, cade took me a little bit to warm up to (this could be because grumpy sunshine will never be a favorite trope of mine)! but willa made up for this wholeheartedly! but cade + rhett’s dad is still my favorite character! lol >.<
i can’t believe i read two back to back cowboy romances while trying to get a bunch of mid year content up on my blog, but it was a fun time and i do think i will give this third book a try soon, too!
trigger + content warnings (be careful - some plots will be somewhat spoiled with these): loss of a parent in past, abandonment, infidelity in past mentions, scene of bullying, vomit, anxiety, panic attacks, mention of miscarriage, surprise pregnancy, hospital setting, birth, birth trauma, and mention of a character from harry potter.
i don't really know how to say this as a warning well, but this book has a few sentences that felt so terrible to read, because the phrases are rooted in homophobia, misogyny, and weird gross feeling gender stereotypes. stuff like this makes me so upset because it would be so easy for a good beta reader to catch these, because they added nothing to the story but put a gross taste in my mouth. examples: mention of “feminine hobbies”, a guy telling another guy to “eat a dick”, and again, like in the first book, weird commentary on men that enjoy manicures.
“And seeing her happy? Seeing her happy is everything. And I’m happy too, because I get to be stuck in her orbit for the rest of my life.”
okay fri
“And seeing her happy? Seeing her happy is everything. And I’m happy too, because I get to be stuck in her orbit for the rest of my life.”
okay friends, you all are two for two with hyped up booktok romances! i really enjoyed this one so much, and it was so much more than just a romance (please check my tw/cw down below)! This is a forced proximity romance involving a professional bull rider who got in to trouble and now his sponsorships are at risk, and the daughter of his manager who now has the job to watch him and make sure he doesn’t get into any more trouble before a big championship in vegas! (unrelated but i live outside of vegas, and the author sounded very knowledgeable about this profession, so i looked it up and we really do have this each october lol!)
oh also, this is a little bit of an age gap romance, and our mc had a crush on the bull rider when she was younger, and i thought this was a super cute element too! but basically, she moves on to the ranch with him and his family (the other brothers are the following books in this series, i do believe) and we get to see them slowly and stubbornly fall for one another. also, both of their dads were my favorite characters and seeing them realize they were falling for each other before they did? my heart was melting a little, i wont lie.
i loved the small town setting, i adored their romance (and the bed of the truck scenes ...more
oh i was invested in so much... this was the best romance ive read in years! highly highly highly recomm
“The world is doable when she is near me.”
oh i was invested in so much... this was the best romance ive read in years! highly highly highly recommend! but as much as i loved the romance, the friendships were really the star of this for me. healing, and hope, and building new friendships, and rebuilding old friendships. and seeing platonic breakups be even harder than romantic breaks ups so much of the time, and the trauma that can come from that... very beautiful and powerful to me. i loved this completely.
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