I enjoyed Barbarian Alien before Liz started going ride-or-die for "her man," but I also don't know why I expected more from the continuation of a serI enjoyed Barbarian Alien before Liz started going ride-or-die for "her man," but I also don't know why I expected more from the continuation of a series where each book is just finding creative ways for the protagonists to have sex without too much repetition....more
Reading the first half of Ice Planet Barbarians was like snacking on a seemingly-endless supply of Cool Ranch Doritos (truly the superior chip) while Reading the first half of Ice Planet Barbarians was like snacking on a seemingly-endless supply of Cool Ranch Doritos (truly the superior chip) while completely basked in the glow of a corny-but-takes-itself-too-seriously 90s thriller.
Reading the second half was like trying to finish a manageable portion of Greek yogurt with granola and honey because you're quote "trying to eat more protein in the morning" and you can't help but wonder where your life went wrong.
I liked this book... kind of. It was exactly what it purported to be and incredibly entertaining but I'm not sure that makes it "good."...more
I always find the acknowledgement of romance novel tropes within a romance novel a bit on the nose, but the main character of Unromanceis a romance aI always find the acknowledgement of romance novel tropes within a romance novel a bit on the nose, but the main character of Unromanceis a romance author, so maybe I expected too much. Erin Connor's debut wasn't bad, but the book just never grabbed me the way I wanted it to. The premise—a jaded romance author's one night stand with a hopeless romantic actor leads to a surprising friendship as they try to get her mojo back and ruin him of leaping-before-you-look� was fun and included some non-romantic emotional vulnerability, too, but I mostly found myself happy to finish so that I could finally move onto something else....more
Even though Lord of Scoundrels is a well-renowned historical romance (if not a contemporary classic of the genre), there were far too many points at wEven though Lord of Scoundrels is a well-renowned historical romance (if not a contemporary classic of the genre), there were far too many points at which I rolled my eyes or stopped reading to audibly exclaim some variation of, "good lord, Loretta" to rate this over three stars. I can understand why so many people like this book (and even get a kick out of ), but I don't think I enjoy any of the standard tropes present in a Georgian-era romance (e.g. courting, bastard children, being "ruined," short courtships leading to marriage ending in pregnancy) nor do I vibe with a protagonist who has had such an awful childhood that he has to spend the entire novel recovering from his trauma while projecting his low self-esteem onto someone who repeatedly tells him that she quite likes the way he looks thank you very much.
With that said, Chase is a very good writer and I have read way worse books....more
Fan Service is a fandom-inspired, nostalgia-fueled romp for those of us who aren't quite ready fNote: an eARC of this book was acquired via .
Fan Service is a fandom-inspired, nostalgia-fueled romp for those of us who aren't quite ready for knotting but still love a scent-marking possessive streak, and a book I knew I would probably like (Rosie Danan never seems to miss) but really ended up loving. Whether Danan was inspired by Supernatural or Teen Wolf (or neither), she imbued her book with as much heart as any fanfiction writer trying to fix a bone-headed showrunner's decades-long queer-baiting relationship (cough Destiel cough) and wrote a book that was truly laugh-out-loud funny, emotional, and sexy.
Because it feels appropriate, here are some AO3 tags for Fan Service: Alex/Devin, Bisexual goth mommy, BDSM (for science), Celebrity x y/n, Grumpy x sunshine, Humor, It’s not my turn for the brain cell, Middle-age himbo, Reluctant coworkers, Romance, Slow build, Smut...more
The Duke Gets Even was an average romance with a somewhat predictable plot, repetitive writing, and anachronistic characters. I read this for a book cThe Duke Gets Even was an average romance with a somewhat predictable plot, repetitive writing, and anachronistic characters. I read this for a book club and, although it wasn’t as terrible as the first chapter led me to believe, Joanna Shupe is not an author I will revisit.
I sincerely wonder if Shupe started writing this when Alito's majority opinion in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health had been leaked. Not that I don't believe an unmarried, wealthy white woman couldn't have been having copious amounts of (good) sex while promoting contraception and woman's bodily autonomy in the late nineteen century, shoehorning 21st mores into an otherwise average (and incredibly white) romance wasn't it....more
Having never seen Sleepless in Seattle nor read a B.K. Borison novel, First-Time Caller was a faNote: an eARC of this book was acquired via .
Having never seen Sleepless in Seattle nor read a B.K. Borison novel, First-Time Caller was a fantastic introduction to both. Overall, I really liked Borison's writing and the central plot of the book. ((view spoiler)[E.g. Lucie could have easily had a very believable romance with Colin, but I appreciated the internal third-act break-up between her and Aiden more than if Lucie were torn between two guys. (hide spoiler)]) The secondary characters* all had believable motivations for going along with "Lucie's Road to Love," which made everything feel more grounded with realistic stakes. Peacefully co-parenting? Completely doable. Feeling burned out at your job? Been there. Having little to no social life because you're a parent? Seems about right.
Although I think Lucie could have been in her early to mid-30s and still realistically had little to no experience with relationships (imo anyone becoming a parent before 25 feels young ...more
Class Act was somewhat of a disappointment after loving Rodkey's A Disaster in Three Acts. I expected more romance or even a coherent through-lineClass Act was somewhat of a disappointment after loving Rodkey's A Disaster in Three Acts. I expected more romance or even a coherent through-line, but the plot felt muddled among too many directions: Ella's frustration with thinking her parents prioritize their restaurant over their children; her misguided protectiveness over and for her younger sibling; her fake relationship with (and real feelings for) Patrick; a rekindled friendship with Stevie, a former classmate addicted to social media; a subplot involving Patrick's dad's true motivations in interfering in the student council elections....
While a quick read, it just felt like there was little happening over the 300+ pages. Even though Rodkey made great observations about working with others towards a greater goal, the way in which she did fell flat....more
For a book I randomly picked up, Take Me Home wasn’t bad, but I didn’t love it either. Sweeney is a good writer, and she made this book feel bursting For a book I randomly picked up, Take Me Home wasn’t bad, but I didn’t love it either. Sweeney is a good writer, and she made this book feel bursting with *stuff*, but it varied between plot developing-action and dull minutiae. I both understood how Hazel’s feelings for Ash were changing in real-time and then rolled my eyes at how quickly their relationship moved from annoyed, bickering acquaintances to “I love yous�. (Though maybe I just didn’t like Ash’s POV? Or the fact that it felt like he was trying to win Hazel over through overexposure? Idk)
The side plots for both characters ended up being quite serious in places, and the whole thing was tinged with more “oh, right, they’re 23" thoughts than I would have liked....more
Although The Bromance Book Club gets a little something extra for being the first book in the series (and thus my first introduction to Nashville'Although The Bromance Book Club gets a little something extra for being the first book in the series (and thus my first introduction to Nashville's Bros), Undercover Bromance was a worthwhile contribution to what I hope will be a long series. (The third book, Crazy Stupid Bromance, has already been announced and omg this girl is EXCITED.) I enjoyed the annoyed-to-lovers arc of Mack and Liv much more than the married-on-the-rocks arc given to Gavin and Thea, but perhaps that's just because I enjoy reading about two people without a romantic history falling in love more than I do a couple rekindling their romance. (See also my enjoyment of Fix Her Up over Love Her or Lose Her.)
Undercover Bromance dips its toe into heavy shit in a way that I don't remember Bromance Book Club doing, though: workplace sexual assault and harassment, domestic/spousal abuse, and victim-blaming, as well as some less-than-great alpha-male behavior (from our beloved Mack, too ...more
I picked up This Day Changes Everything because of the cover and started reading because I thought this was going to be a friendship story between AbbI picked up This Day Changes Everything because of the cover and started reading because I thought this was going to be a friendship story between Abby and Leo, and a love story between Abby and Kat. (It was neither.) While this was undoubtedly a cute story with diverse characters, the premise (falling in love over a day) hinged on insta-love, which is something I dislike when it happens with adults and barely tolerate with teenagers (mainly because everything they do seems very overdramatic)....more
I read Haunted Ever After thinking it was a one-and-done small town cozy romance—which DeLuca does so well—but was pleasantly surprised to learn it's I read Haunted Ever After thinking it was a one-and-done small town cozy romance—which DeLuca does so well—but was pleasantly surprised to learn it's the start of a series. (Let's go Sophie and Theo enemies to lovers! ...more
This was a very cute trope-filled romance between a snarky web producer (working for a Buzzfeed-coded LA-based company) and a loner conspiracy theorisThis was a very cute trope-filled romance between a snarky web producer (working for a Buzzfeed-coded LA-based company) and a loner conspiracy theorist podcaster for fans of The X-Files or perhaps Bones (two shows I haven't seen). Although Marlowe includes trigger-warnings in the book, I felt like the very serious wasn't balanced that well with an otherwise comedic and funny romance, although this is her debut novel and the fmc is 25 (an age we almost all look back at and cringe). ...more
Unfortunately, How to Get a Life in Ten Dates was underwhelming, with a bland story and one-noteNote: an eARC of this book was acquired via .
Unfortunately, How to Get a Life in Ten Dates was underwhelming, with a bland story and one-note characters. ☹️
I loved The Make-Up Test and think Howe is a great writer. In this book, though, the individual chapters moved quickly but the overall plot was both too fast (why is Haleigh expecting to get an engagement party date after, at most, two months of dating??) and also too slow (there was barely any narrative conflict and the main love interest was properly introduced close to the end). The main conflict stems from Haleigh and Jack (still) being in love with one another but being unable to admit it because they hooked up on vacation years ago and it ended badly. Then, after not speaking for months, they made a list of rules to prioritize their friendship over their romantic feelings. But now Haleigh desperately wants to bring a date to her sister's engagement party in three months, so she decides to give her "nosy" friends and family control of her (otherwise abysmal) dating life so that they will stop “harassing her� about why she hasn’t settled down. …And Jack, at the 75% mark, decides he’s a viable candidate.
Great! But I had two main complaints:
One, although Haleigh has diagnosed anxiety, Howe made her quest to “figure things out at 25� into The Worst Possible Thing To Ever Happen. I understand that the novel is written in Haleigh’s POV so things are going to seem out of proportion, but continuing to harp on Haleigh’s “inability� to “get her shit together� when she's so young just became annoying. Every little upset in Haleigh’s life was made out to be this high-stakes thing for which her overbearing mother and perfect sister judge her, and at some point, it moved from accurate character development to lazy writing. Having two part-time jobs is perfectly normal, even beyond 25. Living with a friend because you don’t have enough money to live alone is also perfectly normal. Comparing yourself to your “more successful� sibling is, again, perfectly normal. But Haleigh is 25!!!! A literal baby. Maybe if Howe had kept her sister aged 27 but made Haleigh 30 (or even older) then yes, not having full-time work and still living with a roommate and not having a person to be your plus-one to your younger sibling’s wedding� okay, I get it. Fine irl but much more narratively interesting.
Two, the disastrous vacation hookup between Haleigh and Jack happens YEARS before the start of the book, which means they stayed friends and pretended that hooking up didn’t change anything in their relationship—yet still insisted on rules so that they never cross that boundary again? HMMM. (Haleigh also pining for Jack? When, for all she knows, he’s moved on and doesn’t want to be in a relationship with her? Ugh.) (view spoiler)[Because a lot of the groundwork for their eventual pairing is written as a result of their decades-long friendship, we hardly get to see Jack doing typical love-interest stuff. They basically act like they’re already in a relationship, but because that’s normal for them, it doesn’t feel very romantic on-page. (Another love interest is introduced way before Jack is, but as soon as Haleigh gets an inkling that Jack could have feelings for her, Haleigh very suddenly gets the ick and they break up� which IMO is the laziest end the more interesting love interest.)
Ultimately, I felt that this novel would have worked so much better if Jack and Haleigh were in their no-speaking stage post-Hawaii when the story opens. Then, Haleigh’s desperation about finding a life partner has more stakes (will anyone live up to the potential with Jack?) AND his eventual return to her life feels more fulfilling. Them getting to work through their emotions when everything is fresh feels way more authentic, and Jack getting a kick in the ass to confess his feelings after seeing Haleigh (potentially) move on is more warranted. (hide spoiler)] Instead, we got a boring and predictable story where the romance between two people feels stale and all of their problems are fixed because they finally communicate after years of staying silent....more
Ah, the Witches of Thistle Grove... I didn't go into this realizing it was the end and so am a little heartbroken that this is how the series ends!
I tAh, the Witches of Thistle Grove... I didn't go into this realizing it was the end and so am a little heartbroken that this is how the series ends!
I think Harper could have done more to fully incorporate the end-game ultimately explored in Rise and Divine, as the plot suffers from doing the heavy lifting started at the tail end of In Charm's Way, and it feels disconnected from the earlier novels (most especially Payback's a Witch). I also didn't love the way in which Harper wrote Ivy and Dasha's second-chance romance: most of the emotional intimacy was told through flashbacks and, since neither character is really featured in any of the other books, Harper had to both explain how they fell in love as well as how they broke up AND how they got back together in an already plot-heavy book. While Ivy and Dasha popped up in In Charm's Way and previously introduced characters and couples appear in Rise and Divine, Thistle Grove is written as such a small, interconnected community that I wanted more than just a brief mention of people I'd already grown to love.
As much as my enjoyment of the series peaked with Back in a Spell and then tapered off with both In Charm's Way and this, I do love this series and heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy fantasy-ish romance filled with found family, queer relationships, and powerful female characters....more
While A Novel Love Story was a decent read, I've read better Ashley Poston books (The Dead Romantics) and heard about worse (The Seven Year SliWhile A Novel Love Story was a decent read, I've read better Ashley Poston books (The Dead Romantics) and heard about worse (The Seven Year Slip). The entirety of this book takes place over a blissfully technology-free week Elsy (I had to look up her name) spends in the miraculously-sprung town of her favorite fictional series. As she explores the town and accidentally intervenes in the characters' lives, she also falls in love with the only other person who understands what's happening.
Although Poston gives plenty of hints as to what is going on, the explanation was kind of a let-down, as was Anders's (forgot his name too) behavior during the third-act break-up. (TBH I kind of wanted the dead author to pop up as grief-induced fever or something.) This book could have been way better had there not been so many meta-references to romance books and romantic tropes, a longer time spent building the actual romance, or even more growth from either protagonist. Unfortunately, I think I was more invested in the goings-on of Eloraton than I was with either Elsy or Anders....more
So, here's the thing: this book was not for me, nor is Jennifer Snow an author I will ever revisNote: an eARC of this book was acquired via .
So, here's the thing: this book was not for me, nor is Jennifer Snow an author I will ever revisit, and in any other circumstance I would have DNF'd and been on my way. (But sometimes you gotta write a review.) To say that I was surprised All Signs Point to Malibu wasn't a debut novel is putting it mildly. The prose felt stilted and too cliched, the plot was formulaic, the characters were either boring or unlikeable, and the paranormal twist which drives the entire plot was better done in Sarah Adler's Happy Medium. Literally, the only two things I enjoyed were the book's setting (I could feel the warmth ☀�) and the fact that I finished it in less than three hours. However, maybe you like everything I didn't and this will be the perfect read for you!
My first big problem was that Snow used first-person present tense but told more than her characters said. Both POV characters had incredible insight into their own thoughts and motivations, resulting in paragraphs of explanation but few lines of dialogue. Most of the novel felt like Snow over-explaining Hailey and Warren's decisions to the reader instead of just doing the thing in real-time. Reading a character think something (e.g. "chemistry sizzles between us") when you also just read how it didn't became repetitive and eye-rolling.
The other problem was how Hailey and Warren completely lacked chemistry. Most of the novel was Snow repeating how sexy and romantic they found one another as if she had to remind me of a fact I didn't believe. On top of an enemies-to-lovers arc (which is conveniently overcome in weeks), Snow also makes sure we're aware of why Hailey and Warren dating is such a taboo: she ruined his career! She used to date his best friend! They're both sexy but hate each other!! But I just did not care at all about Hailey's former relationship with Liam and I didn't care about Hailey's sexual fantasies about Warren's forearms or their eventual copulation (pages which I straight-up skipped because the whole scene was way too cringey). So, when Hailey or Warren were tiptoeing around their feelings or a big miscommunication happened to further the plot... I remained unmoved.
Ultimately, Snow failed to entice me with her writing, she bored me with her plot, and she gave me no reason or motivation to root for her characters....more
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