en-US Fri, 02 May 2025 21:44:11 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 231922116 Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.]]> 384 Emily Henry 0593955625 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.41 2025
author: Emily Henry
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/02
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves:
review:
*stares at wall for foreseeable future*
]]> 224299777 “Absolute, utter perfection.”―Chloe Liese, USA Today bestselling author of Only and Forever

A married couple joins a week-long wilderness expedition to help them reconnect in this heartfelt companion novel to the viral TikTok sensation Out on a Limb .

High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have always been a sure thing. For the past seventeen years, they have had each other’s backs through all of life’s ups and downs.

But Sarah has begun to wonder . . . who is she without her other half?

When she decides to take on a project of her own, a fundraising gala in memory of her late mother, Sarah wants nothing more than to prove to herself—and to everyone else—that she doesn’t need Caleb’s help to succeed. She’s still her mother’s daughter after all, independent and capable.

That is, until the event fails and Caleb uninvitedly steps in to save the day.

The rift that follows unearths a decade of grievances and doubts. Are they truly the same people they were when they got married at nineteen? Are they supposed to be?

In a desperate attempt to fix what they fear is breaking, Sarah and Caleb make the spontaneous decision to get out of their comfort zones and join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches.

What follows is a life-affirming comedy of errors as two nature-averse people fight their way out of the woods in order to find their way back to their roots.]]> Hannah Bonam-Young Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 ]]> 3.93 2025
author: Hannah Bonam-Young
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
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Hannah Bonam-Young, may you always be famous.

]]> 203237161
If your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life, Bennet Taylor is failing miserably . . . with a big emphasis on the miserable. Where’s that zest she keeps hearing about? She’s a temp worker in New York City with no direction, no future, and no social life. And at the painful center of this listlessness is grief over the death of her first love.

When Bennet runs into Henry Adams just hours after standing him up for a first date, she makes an alcohol-fueled confession: She’s not ready to date. In fact, it’s been years since she felt passion for something. Not even pottery, or organized sports—not anything. Rather than leaving her to ruminate, Henry jumps at the opportunity for adventure: Bennet needs to find a passion for life, and Henry will help her find it. Every Saturday, they’ll try something new in New York City. As friends, of course.

As their “passion project� continues, the pair tackle everything from carpentry to tattooing to rappelling off skyscrapers, and Bennet feels her guarded exterior ebbing away. But as secrets surface, Bennet has to decide what she wants, and if she’s truly ready to move on. With emotional resonance and sparkling banter, Passion Project is a fun, flirty, thoughtful story of finding a spark—and igniting happiness.]]> 368 London Sperry 0143138561 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 3.91 2025
author: London Sperry
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/20
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
review:
I’ve been sitting on this review for like a week now because this book meant so much to me that I couldn’t form the adequate words.
]]> 60431451
Yearbook is a collection of true stories that I desperately hope are just funny at worst, and life-changingly amazing at best. (I understand that it's likely the former, which is a fancy "book" way of saying "the first one.")

I talk about my grandparents, doing stand-up comedy as a teenager, bar mitzvahs, and Jewish summer camp, and tell way more stories about doing drugs than my mother would like. I also talk about some of my adventures in Los Angeles, and surely say things about other famous people that will create a wildly awkward conversation for me at a party one day.

I hope you enjoy the book should you buy it, and if you don’t enjoy it, I’m sorry. If you ever see me on the street and explain the situation, I’ll do my best to make it up to you.]]> Seth Rogan Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 currently-reading 4.27 2021
author: Seth Rogan
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 55338982
What makes “cults� so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . .

Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.� But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day.

Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,� revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish� everywhere.]]> 309 Amanda Montell 0062993151 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.82 2021
author: Amanda Montell
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55145261 A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green 0525555218 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.37 2021
author: John Green
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216351768
If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn't you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words�Let Them—will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. The Let Them Theory puts the power to create a life you love back in your hands—and this book will show you exactly how to do it.

In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins�New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset—teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life.

Using the same no-nonsense, science-backed approach that's made The Mel Robbins Podcast a global sensation, Robbins explains why The Let Them Theory is already loved by millions and how you can apply it in eight key areas of your life to make the biggest impact. Within a few pages, you'll realize how much energy and time you've been wasting trying to control the wrong things—at work, in relationships, and in pursuing your goals—and how this is keeping you from the happiness and success you deserve.

Written as an easy-to-understand guide, Robbins shares relatable stories from her own life, highlights key takeaways, relevant research and introduces you to world-renowned experts in psychology, neuroscience, relationships, happiness, and ancient wisdom who champion The Let Them Theory every step of the way.

Learn how

Stop wasting energy on things you can't control Stop comparing yourself to other peopleBreak free from fear and self-doubtRelease the grip of people's expectationsBuild the best friendships of your lifeCreate the love you deservePursue what truly matters to you with confidenceBuild resilience against everyday stressors and distractionsDefine your own path to success, joy, and fulfillment. . . and so much more.

The Let Them Theory will forever change the way you think about relationships, control, and personal power. Whether you want to advance your career, motivate others to change, take creative risks, find deeper connections, build better habits, start a new chapter, or simply create more happiness in your life and relationships, this book gives you the mindset and tools to unlock your full potential.

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory now and discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words.]]> 311 Mel Robbins 1401971377 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.16 2024
author: Mel Robbins
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> 171681821
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.� —Shannon Carlin, ,i>TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood� began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood� in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood� has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems� that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.]]> 400 Jonathan Haidt 0593655036 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.35 2024
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> 55361205
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.

Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.

Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.

A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective—the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change,� and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.

This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.]]> 768 Barack Obama 1524763187 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.32 2020
author: Barack Obama
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 201751300 An affectionate and engaging history of the American bookstore and its central place in American cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations

Bookstores have always been unlike any other kind of store, shaping readers and writers, and influencing our tastes, thoughts, and politics. They nurture local communities while creating new ones of their own. Bookshops are powerful spaces, but they are also endangered ones. In The Bookshop, we see those stakes: what has been, and what might be lost.

Evan Friss’s history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution beloved by so many. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including The Strand, Chicago’s Marshall Field & Company, Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus. The Bookshop is also a history of the leading figures in American bookselling, often impassioned eccentrics, and a history of how books have been marketed and sold over more than two centuries—including, for example, a 3,000-pound elephant who appeared to sign books at Marshall Field’s in 1944.

The Bookshop is a love letter to bookstores, a charming chronicle for anyone who cherishes these sanctuaries of literature, and essential reading to understand how these vital institutions have shaped American life—and why we still need them.]]> 416 Evan Friss 0593299922 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.92 2024
author: Evan Friss
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221739848 He’s the perfect guy. There's just one problem...

Jessie knows that love at first sight doesn’t exist. But, one sunny Saturday in London, a fire alarm in Whole Foods throws her into a stranger's arms. Cal is charming and their chemistry is instant.

Quick-fire flirting turns into the most enchanting day of Jessie’s life. But that evening they're forced apart before swapping numbers. Jessie is devastated - what if she’s just lost the one?

After weeks of searching, imagine her surprise when Jessie opens the door at her nannying job to Cal holding two dozen red roses.

The only thing is, they’re not for her…]]> Laura Jane Williams 0593719506 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.00
author: Laura Jane Williams
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> 222376906
Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life―begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.

As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.]]> 544 Rebecca Ross 1250373352 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.65 2025
author: Rebecca Ross
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217453516 From beloved author Hannah Orenstein, this love letter to lake life is “the Parent Trap for adults,� the story of two half-sisters who meet for the first time at their father’s cabin in Maine after his unexpected death.

Every summer, Vivian Levy and Lucy Webster spend a month with their father at his lake house � separately. Raised in New York City, Vivian is an ambitious sommelier with a secret that could derail her future. Lucy grew up in a tiny Maine town, where she now teaches high school English while watching her marriage unravel. They’ve never met. While Lucy envied her half-sister from afar, their father kept Vivian in the dark.

When Vivian arrives at the lake to spread his ashes and sell his cabin, she's shocked to find Lucy there, awaiting his return. In an ideal world, they’d help each other through their grief. Instead, forced to spend the summer together, they fight through a storm of suspicion and hostility to untangle the messy truth about their parents� pasts. While Lucy is desperate to hold onto the house, Vivian is scrambling after a betrayal. After thirty years apart, is it too late for them to be a family?

For fans of Carley Fortune and Elin Hilderbrand, this sister story set on a lush lake brims with the undeniable heart, depth, charm, and humor that have endeared Hannah Orenstein to legions of readers.]]> 400 Hannah Orenstein 0593851552 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.68 2025
author: Hannah Orenstein
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> 218695924 A talent agent hires an actress to play the part of “novelist� on a book tour for his agency’s publicity-shy client

She’s playing the part of romance author, but has she found her own real life love story?

Talent agent Charlie Francisco has three problems: a divorce that ended his screenwriting career, a business he never planned to inherit, and a take-your-breath-away romance novel whose author wants nothing to do with its publication. The book is a surefire hit, if only his agency can find someone to “play� author on its summer book tour.

Enter Kate Elliott, a former soap actress who’s miraculously right for the part at the very moment her life seems to be going all wrong. Kate is still recovering from her own divorce and Charlie’s job offer is a lifeline. She agrees to the pretense for all interviews, signings, and appearances surrounding the novel’s publication. But she can’t know who really wrote the remarkable story—the one so beautiful it’s made her believe in love again.

When Kate and Charlie meet they’re all friction and sparks—the one thing they have in common is they’re determined to play their respective parts. But as the summer heat ups and the lies get bigger and bigger, can they stick to their lines . . . or will they go off-script?]]> 352 Josie Silver 0593722884 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.82 2025
author: Josie Silver
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216522630 She’s the one that got away. He’s the one that never let her go.

From the bestselling author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance in which past lovers get a second chance to rediscover what they lost.

Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right?

But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is, until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one problem: the neighbor.

Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like who: Cam Ashwood. But ever since he returned home last year, the girl who was his first, well, everything has become a woman seemingly determined to keep him at arm’s length. And he was okay with that—at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. She was getting married, after all. But now she’s single and living next door. Dusty wants to show her that they can be friends, and that he can stay put.

Despite her best attempts to stay far away from Dusty Tucker, Cam realizes that being close to him is like slipping on her favorite jeans. Easy. Comfortable. That is until past wounds start to open and feelings—both old and new—wreak havoc. Nearly ten years after they first met, Dusty and Cam begin to wonder if their first love can also be their last. And this time, will it be forever?]]> 368 Lyla Sage 0593732472 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.16 2025
author: Lyla Sage
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> 217271595
But when my nephew’s guardianship is contested, I decide I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him in Rose Hill. Even if it means marrying the enemy.

Rhys Dupris.

A man who is secretive, broody, and completely infuriating. A man whose work takes him away for weeks on end and brings him back covered in mysterious bruises—ones he won’t talk about. In fact, we barely talk at all.

Which would be fine, except when he’s not talking, he’s staring. And the way he looks at me is borderline indecent.

The tension between us has always been palpable. But living under the same roof is a dangerous temptation.

I swore I would never forgive him. But that was before I knew the man behind the mask. The one who’s fierce and protective. The one who’s gentle and patient. The one who shows up for us when we need him most.

He’s not at all who I thought he was.

And that makes hating my husband so much harder� and loving him just a little too easy.]]> 464 Elsie Silver 1464237522 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.14 2025
author: Elsie Silver
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220161319 The “masterful, inspiring, and full of heart� (Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author) Jackie Lau returns with a thoroughly unique love story about a woman reliving the same Friday over and over again—and the intriguing man who can’t quite remember her.

Noelle Tom really shouldn’t have eaten those dumplings at the night market. But the old lady at the stall said they’d give her what she needed most, and what Noelle desperately needed after another long workweek was food.

Except now she’s reliving the same Friday over and over. Every morning her alarm goes off at 6:45 no matter what, the Wordle answer is always “happy,� and she watches a silly squirrel video go viral day after day. And no matter how much she works on the same proposal, it’s always erased when she wakes up. It seems Monday will never come in this workaholic’s worst nightmare.

Noelle has no idea how being trapped in a time loop is the “thing she needed most,� especially now that everything seems meaningless. Sure, three fancy meals in a row is a fun treat, but it’s getting repetitive. Noelle’s not sure what lesson the old lady was trying to impart. Even a trip to the dumpling stall doesn’t help…because there’s no sign of it.

But then she meets a young woman who also ate the dumplings, and good-looking Cam, who appears in multiple places on her Friday. While he seems to have no memory of their encounters, there are signs he might be the key to getting un-stuck. But Noelle will have to put work aside and live a little in order to make him notice her. As their flirtation progresses, Noelle begins to worry that if she ever gets to turn the calendar page, Cam won’t know who she is and her life may never return to what it was before that fateful Friday…]]> 352 Jackie Lau 1668030799 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4
The first few chapters had me soooo hooked and the main character’s internal monologue was so relatable (shoutout to my fellow anxiety girlies), and the writing had that smooth, bingeable quality I liiiiive for.

BUT� and this is a big but� after, like, the 100th repeat of the same day, I started to feel the drag. I get it—that’s literally the point—but whew, even the characters were like, “maybe this is too much?� around loop 110, and I was like “yes bestie, I agree.�

The saving grace? The romance. That emotional tension?? DELICIOUS. I kept rooting for them despite the very real possibility they were going to be stuck in eternal June 20th hell.

The ending was where things got a little wobbly for me. I’m not sure all the motivations behind the time loop made sense to me, and I wanted just a bit more clarity or emotional payoff.

Still, the vibes were there. The feelings were real. The tears? Slightly present. Would recommend if you like a good mix of heartbreak, humor, and a little timey-wimey confusion.

Thank you endlessly to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!! ]]> 3.97 2025
author: Jackie Lau
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves:
review:
Anyone who knows me knows I looooove any sort of “magical realism� aspect, so when I saw that there was a time loop?? Immediately intrigued.

The first few chapters had me soooo hooked and the main character’s internal monologue was so relatable (shoutout to my fellow anxiety girlies), and the writing had that smooth, bingeable quality I liiiiive for.

BUT� and this is a big but� after, like, the 100th repeat of the same day, I started to feel the drag. I get it—that’s literally the point—but whew, even the characters were like, “maybe this is too much?� around loop 110, and I was like “yes bestie, I agree.�

The saving grace? The romance. That emotional tension?? DELICIOUS. I kept rooting for them despite the very real possibility they were going to be stuck in eternal June 20th hell.

The ending was where things got a little wobbly for me. I’m not sure all the motivations behind the time loop made sense to me, and I wanted just a bit more clarity or emotional payoff.

Still, the vibes were there. The feelings were real. The tears? Slightly present. Would recommend if you like a good mix of heartbreak, humor, and a little timey-wimey confusion.

Thank you endlessly to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!!
]]> 214151426 A bestselling romance author flees to Alaska to reinvent herself and write her first murder mystery, but the rugged resort proprietor soon has her fearing she’s living in a rom-com plot instead in this earnestly spectacular debut by a stunning new voice.

Beloved romance author Margot Bradley has a dark secret: she doesn’t believe in Happily Ever Afters. Not for herself, not for her readers, and not even for her characters, for whom she secretly writes alternate endings that swap weddings and babies for divorce papers and the occasional slashed tire. When her Happily Never After document is hacked and released to the public, she finds herself canceled by her readers and dropped by her publisher.

Desperate to find a way to continue supporting her chronically ill sister, Savannah, Margot decides to trade meet-cutes for murder. The fictional kind. Probably. But when Savannah books Margot a six-week stay in a remote Alaskan resort to pen her first murder mystery, Margot finds herself running from a moose and leaping into the arms of the handsome proprietor, making her fear she’s just landed in a romance novel instead.

The last thing Dr. Forrest Wakefield ever expected was to leave his dream job as a cancer researcher to become a glorified bellhop. What he’s really doing at his family’s resort is caring for his stubborn, ailing father, and his puzzle-loving mind is slowly freezing over—until Margot shows up. But Forrest doesn’t have any room in his life for another person he could lose, especially one with a checkout date.

As long snowy nights and one unlikely trope after another draw Margot and Forrest together, they’ll each have to learn to overcome their fears and set their aside assumptions before Margot leaves—or risk becoming a Happily Never After story themselves.]]> 336 Victoria Lavine 1668079275 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.01 2025
author: Victoria Lavine
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> 218431675 Eat Post Like is a heartwarming debut novel of self-discovery, resilience, and the transformative power of food.

Cassie Brooks has her life all figured out.

Make partner at the prestigious law firm she works at by age 35Prioritize making plans with friends on the weekends� not workingSpend as much time as possible with her boyfriend, James ColwellWork might be exhausting, but for now she’s satisfied making good money and enjoying New York City with James. He’s an accountant but has surprisingly eclectic taste in food. Cassie is starting to think he could be the one when her life flips upside down with one James has died tragically.

Months into her grief, she uncovers a worn diary belonging to James and stumbles upon a remarkable James was the mastermind behind the hottest, anonymous foodie account in the city. With detailed food reviews, lists of new restaurants, and a tantalizing plan to involve Cassie, James had been preparing for an adventure of a lifetime.

When Cassie unwittingly accepts a dinner reservation on behalf of James’s viral account, she embarks on a whirlwind journey filled with unforgettable meals and unexpected connections. She goes from endless hours on-call as a lawyer to savoring exquisite pasta in Italy and indulging in the finest French cuisine in Paris.

But as Cassie navigates the demands of being an influencer and embracing her newfound passions, she struggles to find balance. Does she have what it takes to maintain her secret identity while pursuing her own dreams? Can she balance her grief of losing James with the thrilling possibilities that lie ahead?]]> 384 Emily Arden Wells 006330743X Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.52
author: Emily Arden Wells
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.52
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]]> 222684223 In this sexy and emotional romance from the acclaimed author of Out of the Woods and Out on a Limb, a small-town woman’s journey to spread her wings intertwines with the arrival of an adventurous newcomer who brings out the best in her.

Prudence Welch has found solace in her introverted life in Baysville, a charming tourist town in Northern Ontario. Despite once dreaming of a life beyond its borders, she now finds contentment in her working at her father’s gas station, writing poetry, and caring for her mother, who was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's shortly after Prue’s nineteenth birthday. But as her mother’s condition worsens and her father’s concerns about her future intensify, Prue feels her world slipping further out of control.

Enter Milo Kablukov, an enigmatic wanderer whose beat-up van covered with ill-advised bumper stickers rolls into town just when Prue needs a change. It’s all too easy to let go with him, and Prue can’t help but strike up an unlikely friendship with Milo, which leads to a wild and sexy agreement between them.

Milo, a man of many adventures and countless stories, is not one to settle down. However, his brother’s urgent need for help has brought him to Baysville, and now the intriguing Prue has given him more reason to stay. Especially once they start spending more time together, their chemistry intensifying, and casual-sex lessons start at Prue’s request.

But as their temporary arrangement blossoms into something deeper, Prue and Milo discover that getting out of their comfort zones is one thing . . . taking that leap together is something else entirely.]]> Hannah Bonam-Young 0593871898 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.16 2025
author: Hannah Bonam-Young
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 217182470
Jo De La Cruz should be on top of the world. As one of spin’s hottest instructors, her workouts stream into thousands of living rooms, her waiting list is harder to access than Area 51, and even her hair has its own social media page. But Jo’s struggling from a decade in the spotlight—which is when she meets the annoyingly handsome journalist who claims her job is just yelling at people from a bike.

Converting a hater is a challenge Jo can’t resist.

Only nothing about Silas Anders matches her expectations. He throws himself into her classes, he’s genuinely interested in Jo’s hobbies, and—most surprising of all—he knows what it’s like to struggle with mental health. Between all-you-can-eat-diner lunches, thrifting adventures, and sizzling summer nights, Jo might even be catching feelings. But as buzz for the article skyrockets, Jo discovers that the man she’s been falling for may, in fact, be the one scamming her.

Will trusting him break her heart—or lead to a love worth riding for?]]> 384 Ana Holguin 1538756889 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.98 2025
author: Ana Holguin
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 181879269
Celeste is extremely talented, sexy, and gay, and would be the perfect collaborator and rebound for Gemma if it weren’t for one major fact: she’s Gemma’s ex, the one that broke her heart in college and moved to a whole another country before Gemma could even make sense of what went wrong between them. Despite working on a project together about what constitutes love and romance in the modern age, when it comes to their own affairs, both Gemma and Celeste are tripping over each other’s feet…and into each other’s arms.

Heightened by their shared love for love and the unmistakable sparks that still fly between them, Gemma and Celeste struggle to keep their relationship strictly professional. For the sake of her career, Gemma needs this piece to do well. And for the sake of what’s left of her beaten up hopeless romantic heart, she wants to fall head over heels for Celeste again. But can she trust Celeste to feel the same this time around?

LOVE IN FOCUS is a second chance sapphic rom com that will appeal to fans of THE BOLD TYPE and DELILAH GREEN DOESN’T CARE.]]> Lyla Lee Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.76 2025
author: Lyla Lee
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> 218372272 Rival engineers dabble in personal chemistry while at a tropical company retreat in this smart, zippy romcom.

Engineer Trishara Malik once dreamed of being the first woman of color to smash the glass ceiling at WMC Purcell, but after years of dealing with white male privilege and blatant nepotism, she watches her hard-earned promotion go to her nemesis, Rafe Gallagher—the boss’s son. Teetering on the edge of burnout, Tris is stunned when she’s picked to attend WMC's corporate leadership retreat in Hawaii. It’s a chance to revive her stalled career and compete for a coveted spot in an executive training program—plus, three weeks in paradise! The only downside? Rafe is her co-attendee.

Tris plans to avoid Rafe entirely, but when she arrives in Maui, a booking error has them stuck sharing the honeymoon suite. Sure, it’s not all torture. Rafe is a smoldering ten—okay fine, an eleven—but after years of competition, they can barely stand being in the same time zone. As they vie against each other during aptitude tests and team-building exercises, Tris begins to realize Rafe might not be the villain after all. With her dreams at stake, can she learn to trust the man who might have been standing in her corner all along?]]> 352 Nisha J. Tuli 1538759268 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.21 2025
author: Nisha J. Tuli
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 218372468 When a late bloomer goes viral for coming out, she decides to use her newfound fame to get her first kiss—with the help of a sexy bartender.

Librarian Angela Gutierrez has never been kissed. But after posting a video about her late bloomer status and ace identity, she's finally ready to get some firsts out of the way. Using her new influencer status to come up with a scavenger hunt idea in which the winner earns her first kiss, Angela realizes she may need some help to pull off the event. Enter Krystal Ramirez, hot bartender and Angela’s unrequited crush of five years. Despite vowing that romantic love isn’t for her, Krystal seems awfully determined to help Angela pull off the scavenger hunt and find true love.

There’s just one the connection between Angela and Krystal is getting stronger and stronger the more they hang out, until Angela isn’t sure she wants to go through with the scavenger hunt after all. But Krystal is convinced that she isn’t capable of love and before long, Angela realizes she's falling head over heels for a woman who may never love her back. ]]> 384 Gabriella Gamez 1538726653 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.79
author: Gabriella Gamez
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.79
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rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 219966756 “Good Spirits is an absolute knockout. A new Borison book feels like coming home in the best way. She's truly in a league of her own.� � Hannah Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Icebreaker

The New York Times bestselling author of First-Time Caller, B.K. Borison is back with a whimsical new holiday romance—this time with a magical twist—that will have everyone falling in love with the Ghost of Christmas Past.

He’s the Ghost of Christmas Past. She’s not exactly Scrooge.

Ghost of Christmas Past Nolan Callahan intends to spend this holiday haunting like every other—get in, get out, return to his otherwise aimless existence as a ghost awaiting the afterlife. But when he’s faced with Harriet York, the sweetest assignment he’s ever had, he suddenly finds himself wishing for a future.

Harriet York has no idea why she’s being haunted. She’s a good person—or, at least, she tries to be. A people pleaser to her core, she always does what’s expected of her. But as she and Nolan begin to examine her past, they discover there are threads that bind them together� and realize there might be more to moving on than expected.

With the deadline of Christmas Eve fast approaching, will they find the key to their futures in each other’s pasts? Or will they stay firmly in the present, indulging in their unexpected, spirited connection?

Filled with magic, mayhem, and cozy holiday charm, this swoony romance is B.K. Borison’s best yet!]]> B.K. Borison Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.55 2025
author: B.K. Borison
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 217281585
But at the end of a disastrous first week, the big move is looking like an even bigger mistake. Especially when she crashes her bike into Wouter van Leeuwen, her family’s handsome Dutch exchange student from ten years ago. Her first love, until he inexplicably ghosted her . . .

Wouter is at a crossroads of his own - in order to inherit his gorgeous family home on a canal, he needs to get married. And when Dani's job falls apart, she needs a visa.

Dani is certain Amsterdam is just temporary.

But could the charming quirks of her new city, and a second chance at love, become her reasons to stay?]]> 366 Rachel Lynn Solomon 1405962674 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.16 2025
author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 215361843 A lottery ticket + donuts = love in this steamy new fake dating romance from beloved author Denise Williams.

Who needs love? Not Sybil Sweet. After years of bouncing from job to job in search of something that feels right and from man to man in search of something special, Sybil is embracing her role as the directionless, floundering member of her family. All she really wants now is a little financial stability and carb comfort. Lucky for her, she’s got just enough in the bank to buy a lottery ticket, and the late-night donut store is open.

Kiran Anderson abandoned his dreams of becoming a doctor to take over running his family’s bakery, and after two years of fighting a losing battle to save the place, he’s exhausted and broke. But when a whirlwind of a woman sweeps in late one night, flirty energy gives way to more…until she runs out the next morning, leaving behind her winning lottery ticket.

Lucky for Kiran, his attempt to return the ticket looks like a grand romantic gesture and goes viral, sending sales through the roof. In an effort to keep the store afloat and to get Sybil’s family off of her back, they agree to fake a relationship for three months. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars, finding each other might end up being the sweetest bit of luck for both of them.]]> 400 Denise Williams 0593641434 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.49 2025
author: Denise Williams
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> 211004830 LET’S CALL A TRUCE is a sexy contemporary romance about second chances at life and love, bursting with humor and a touch of angst from debut author, Amy Buchanan.

After Juliana Ryan's husband dies unexpectedly, leaving her with two grieving kids and a stunted career from years as a stay-at-home mom, she has no choice but to make it work all on her own. But her confidence crashes around her when she overhears her condescending but infuriatingly attractive new colleague, Ben Thomas, talking about how her kids and inexperience are a liability the company can’t afford. This sets off a feud between the two, as Juliana vows to prove him wrong.

Two years later, their feud rages on, but it may be charged with something they aren't willing to admit. When they are forced onto a career-making project together, Juliana has no choice but to call a truce. As their lives become more intertwined in and out of the office, Juliana finds it hard to ignore Ben’s perpetual smile and charming determination. What started as a truce grows into more, as boardroom-clearing arguments turn to desk-clearing kisses. Could the man she deemed her nemesis understand her life–her stress and responsibilities–better than anyone?

But just when Juliana decides to open her heart again, Ben’s past threatens their newfound bliss, and she has to figure out whether this second chance at love is worth it after all.]]> 336 Amy Buchanan 1250341566 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.75 2025
author: Amy Buchanan
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 218372325 “Kennedy Ryan pours her whole soul into everything she writes, and it makes for books that are heart-searing, sensual, and life affirming.”―EMILY HENRY, #1 New York Times bestselling author Hendrix Barry lives a fabulous life. She has phenomenal friends, a loving family, and a thriving business that places her in the entertainment industry's rarefied air. Your vision board? She’s probably living it.

She’s a woman with goals, dreams, ambitions—always striving upward. And in the midst of everything, she's facing her toughest challenge caring for an aging parent.

Who has time for romance? From her experience, there's a low ROI on relationships. She hasn't met the man who can keep up with her anyway. Until...him.

Tech mogul Maverick Bell is a dilemma wrapped in an exquisitely tailored suit and knee-melting charm. From their first charged glance at the summer's hottest party, Hendrix feels like she’s met her match. Only he can’t be. Mav may be the first to make her feel this seen and desired and appreciated, but he’s the last one she can have. Forbidden fruit is the juiciest, and this man is off limits if she plans to stay the course she’s set for herself.

But when Maverick gives chase—pursuing her, spoiling her, understanding her—is it time to let herself have something more?


A deeply moving and personal novel about sacrifice, self-reliance, and finding true happiness from “one of the finest romance writers of our age.� �Entertainment Weekly]]> 448 Kennedy Ryan 1538772809 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.48 2025
author: Kennedy Ryan
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 216247471 The exciting new contemporary romance—and her first to feature a queer romance—by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory

Avery Jensen is almost thirty, fresh off a breakup, and she’s tired of always being so uptight and well-behaved. She wants to get a hobby, date around (especially other women), flirt with everyone she sees, all the fun stuff normal people do in their twenties. One Avery doesn't know how to do any of that. She doesn't have a lot of dating experience, with men or women, and despite being self-assured at work, she doesn't have a lot of confidence when it comes to romance.

Enter Taylor Cameron, Napa Valley's biggest flirt and champion heartbreaker. Taylor just broke up with her most recent girlfriend, and her best friend bet her that she can't make it until Labor Day without sleeping with someone. (Two whole months? Without sex? Taylor?!?!) So, she offers to give Avery flirting lessons. It will keep her busy, stop her from texting people she shouldn't. And it might distract her from how inadequate she feels compared to her friends, who all seem much more settled and adult than Taylor.

At first, Avery is stiff and nervous, but Taylor is patient and encouraging, and soon, Avery looks forward to their weekly lessons. She tells herself it's because the lessons are fun, not because she kind of might have a little bit of a crush on Taylor. Taylor doesn't even try to deny that she's intrigued by Avery, but she's still got a bet to win. With Taylor’s help, Avery is finally doing what she wants to flirting with lots of women, making friends, having fun! But after a while, it becomes impossible for Avery and Taylor to ignore their attraction to one another, despite them both insisting to themselves and everyone else that it isn't serious. When Taylor is forced to confront her feelings for Avery, she doesn't know what to do, how to deal with it, and most importantly, if she's already ruined the best thing she's ever had.]]> 416 Jasmine Guillory 0593100913 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.46 2025
author: Jasmine Guillory
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 228256271 A Human hybrid and an Alpha Were claw against the bonds of fate in the highly anticipated companion novel to the New York Times bestselling Bride.

Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a target, prey to the ruthless political machinations between Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. With her enemies closing in on her, she has only one option left—if he’ll have her.

As Alpha of the Northwest pack, Koen Alexander commands obedience. His authority is so absolute, only a fool would threaten his mate. It doesn’t matter if Serena doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing will stop him from keeping her safe.

But power-hungry Vampyres and Weres are not the only threats chasing Serena. Sooner or later, her past is bound to catch up with her—and Koen might be the only thing standing between her and total annihilation…]]> 432 Ali Hazelwood 0593955013 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.41 2025
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 217245639
I never anticipated Charlie Florek.

Good things happen at the lake. That’s what Alice’s grandmother says, and it’s true. Alice spent just one summer at a cottage with Nan when she was seventeen—it’s where she took that photo, the one of three grinning teenagers in a yellow speedboat, the image that changed her life.

Now Alice lives behind a lens. As a photographer, she’s most comfortable on the sidelines, letting other people shine. Lately though, she’s been itching for something more, and when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice comes up with a plan for them both: another summer in that magical place, Barry’s Bay. But as soon as they settle in, their peace is disrupted by the roar of a familiar yellow boat, and the man driving it.

Charlie Florek was nineteen when Alice took his photo from afar. Now he’s all grown up—a shameless flirt, who manages to make Nan laugh and Alice long to be seventeen again, when life was simpler, when taking pictures was just for fun. Sun-slanted days and warm nights out on the lake with Charlie are a balm for Alice’s soul, but when she looks up and sees his piercing green gaze directly on her, she begins to worry for her heart.

Because Alice sees people—that’s why she is so good at what she does—but she’s never met someone who looks and sees her right back.]]> 400 Carley Fortune 0593638913 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.52 2025
author: Carley Fortune
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> 217388096 An emotional, spicy, second-chance romance from USA Today bestselling author Tarah DeWitt.

This time, they'll get it right.

Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love as kids, had their son Sam when they were only teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were made for one another…until they fell apart.

Now divorced and in their 30s, Wren runs the bakery in town, while Ellis works as a firefighter. They live separate lives, though they are hardly off each other’s minds.

When Sam gets accepted into college and the pair help him move in together, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back to Spunes with him to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. Amid the gorgeous scenery of the California coastline, dreamy destinations, and a great deal of long-yearned-for proximity, Wren starts to think it just might be possible. But the two still have to contend with their tumultuous past in order to move forward. And when spoken words fail, sometimes the written word must bridge the gap.
Will they make the most of what’s left of forever? Or will they let each other go for good?

Brimming with big feelings and packed with steam, Left of Forever is bestseller Tarah DeWitt at the top of her game.]]> 336 Tarah DeWitt 1250329442 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.57 2025
author: Tarah DeWitt
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 217387810 It’s a thin line between love and love-hating.

Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch� Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.

The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but fakes it that she can.

Plus: Cole is Hutch’s brother. And they don’t get along. Next stop paradise!

But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good looking man she has ever seen . . . but also a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two.

Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.]]> 320 Katherine Center 1250283825 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Katherine Center
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 211164792 Two feuding second-grade teachers (and neighbors) find themselves teaming up in this rivals-to-lovers romance.

Emily Walker hates having her carefully crafted world disrupted by anyone, most of all her legendary nemesis, Jack Bennett. He's the opposite of the wonderful heroes she dreams up in her double life as a romance writer, which is why Emily was perfectly happy when Jack left Rome, Kentucky, mid-school year, with his fiancée. The last thing Emily saw coming was Jack’s return at the start of the summer after calling off the wedding and ending his relationship, but he’s here to stay—as her colleague and her neighbor.

Jackson Bennett is glad to be back, eager to renovate his house and work on the next mystery novel under his bestselling pen name. But when he realizes he’s now neighbors with the one woman who has always pushed his buttons, he discovers something he’s even more excited for—thwarting Emily and her petty plans to sabotage his return.

With their chemistry-fueled animosity at an all-time high, Emily accidentally sends an email to their school’s principal that could reveal her secret literary side hustle. She needs to steal back her manuscript, and Jack—she hates to admit—is just the man to help her. Surprisingly, Jack agrees. Will their unlikely alliance put an end to their rivalry? Or could it lead to a steamy plot twist they never saw coming?]]> 384 Sarah Adams 0593723694 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.06 2025
author: Sarah Adams
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 219312128
DANTE HASTINGS

You might have heard of me.

I was the defending Olympic champion—until I used my fist instead of my sabre during a match. Needless to say, I was suspended. Which means no competing for a year…and cleaning up my image.

So, instead of continuing to dominate the fencing world, I’m working on a film that’s poised to be next year’s blockbuster action flick.

The upside? Working with Reese Sinclair, my celebrity crush whose poster was on my wall growing up. Spending time with her will help wash the tabloids of my suspension and convince the league that I’m reformed.

But America’s sweetheart is nothing like I imagined. She’s stubborn, ambitious, and struggling to prove herself in a role that no one thinks she can handle. Still, her determination runs red-hot, and I can’t help but admire her.

When our late-night training sessions turn into something more, I start to realize that I’m outmaneuvered by feelings I never saw coming.

REESE SINCLAIR

The girl next door. The best friend. The love-struck heroine.

I’ve played them all.

But with thirty creeping closer, I need to prove to myself that I can be more than Hollywood’s darling. And this movie is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for, the project I can use to break out of my typecasting.

The problem? I’m not cut out for action-packed stunt work.

Enter: Dante Hastings. He’s hedonistic, insufferable, infuriatingly gorgeous—and my last shot at making this career move work.

I should stay away. His reputation alone could sink mine. But the more time we spend together, the more I see past all his tabloid exploits and rule-breaking. He knows what it means to fight for something.

But a leading lady doesn’t simper over her co-workers, right?

Yet as much as I try to resist, part of me wants to let Dante put the sin in Sinclair.

On Guard is the secondbook in The Hastings series, a collection of interconnected standalone sports romances about the Hastings siblings, scions of sports royalty.]]> 471 Kels Stone 1964675049 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4
On Guard follows dante hastings, a fencer with a bad reputation (]]> 4.05
author: Kels Stone
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves:
review:
the hastings series by kels & denise stone is quickly becoming a personal fave—i’m obsessed. each book follows one of the siblings (all athletes in different sports, which i LOVE), and on guard absolutely delivered.

On Guard follows dante hastings, a fencer with a bad reputation (
]]> 217182552 disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong�

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.]]> 368 Abby Jimenez 1538759195 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 3
I want to make sure to keep things spoiler-free, but still attempt give you my thoughts, here we go:

the pros:
- the fmc was a hilarious spitfire, and a lot of Abby’s signature wit and humor showed up throughout

- several of the side characters were so fun and love-able and really became a highlight of the whole story

- I have several quotes about love/life/etc that I highlighted that I absolutely ADORED and thought were really special


the cons:
- literally why do I need to be told on 5 different occasions that the MMC looks like rhysand from ACOTAR? normally, bookish or pop culture references don’t bother me at all. but 5??? just describe him.

- insta-love is never my favorite trope, but sometimes it can be done well! in the case of Xavier and Samantha, it was not. their relationship seemed like a very unhealthy attachment and I need them to go to therapy

- the cat is named pooter

- I need Abby to get off of tiktok, because so much of this read like it was fully derived from tiktok brain rot (ex: “would you still love me if I was a worm?�)

- as someone who was in a long-distance relationship for over a year…this was not a realistic depiction of that experience.

- I feel like Abby was punishing her characters??? like things would be going well and then BOOM! a really traumatic event/experience! multiple times in the book.

- the way the mom of the fmc was basically villainized for having dementia as well as how the ✨storyline� of the dad was handled, was honestly upsetting. as someone who has had similar family experiences, I cannot IMAGINE this type of response or reaction.

I have more thoughts tbh but I am trying my best to keep things spoiler-free! I still love Abby and her books so so much, this one was just not it for me. Hopefully her next one will be more on par with my other favorites of hers!

]]> 4.13 2025
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves:
review:
listen, I’m just as shocked as you are that I’m rating an Abby Jimenez book this low (and I went back and forth between 2.5 and 3, if I’m being totally honest). she’s an auto-buy author for me, and her books are some of my all-time favorites. that being said…I have lots to unpack lol.

I want to make sure to keep things spoiler-free, but still attempt give you my thoughts, here we go:

the pros:
- the fmc was a hilarious spitfire, and a lot of Abby’s signature wit and humor showed up throughout

- several of the side characters were so fun and love-able and really became a highlight of the whole story

- I have several quotes about love/life/etc that I highlighted that I absolutely ADORED and thought were really special


the cons:
- literally why do I need to be told on 5 different occasions that the MMC looks like rhysand from ACOTAR? normally, bookish or pop culture references don’t bother me at all. but 5??? just describe him.

- insta-love is never my favorite trope, but sometimes it can be done well! in the case of Xavier and Samantha, it was not. their relationship seemed like a very unhealthy attachment and I need them to go to therapy

- the cat is named pooter

- I need Abby to get off of tiktok, because so much of this read like it was fully derived from tiktok brain rot (ex: “would you still love me if I was a worm?�)

- as someone who was in a long-distance relationship for over a year…this was not a realistic depiction of that experience.

- I feel like Abby was punishing her characters??? like things would be going well and then BOOM! a really traumatic event/experience! multiple times in the book.

- the way the mom of the fmc was basically villainized for having dementia as well as how the ✨storyline� of the dad was handled, was honestly upsetting. as someone who has had similar family experiences, I cannot IMAGINE this type of response or reaction.

I have more thoughts tbh but I am trying my best to keep things spoiler-free! I still love Abby and her books so so much, this one was just not it for me. Hopefully her next one will be more on par with my other favorites of hers!


]]> 43015073
In 1999, when Tom O'Neill was assigned a magazine piece about the thirtieth anniversary of the Manson murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Weren't the facts indisputable? Charles Manson had ordered his teenage followers to commit seven brutal murders, and in his thrall, they'd gladly complied. But when O'Neill began reporting the story, he kept finding holes in the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's narrative, long enshrined in the best-selling Helter Skelter. Before long, O'Neill had questions about everything from the motive to the manhunt. Though he'd never considered himself a conspiracy theorist, the Manson murders swallowed the next two decades of his career. He was obsessed.

Searching but never speculative, CHAOS follows O'Neill's twenty-year effort to rebut the "official" story behind Manson. Who were his real friends in Hollywood, and how far would they go to hide their ties? Why didn't law enforcement act on their many chances to stop him? And how did he turn a group of peaceful hippies into remorseless killers? O'Neill's hunt for answers leads him from reclusive celebrities to seasoned spies, from the Summer of Love to the shadowy sites of the CIA's mind-control experiments, on a trail rife with cover-ups and coincidences.

Featuring hundreds of new interviews and dozens of never-before-seen documents from the LAPD, the FBI, and the CIA, CHAOS mounts an argument that could be, according to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay, strong enough to overturn the verdicts on the Manson murders. In those two dark nights in Los Angeles, O'Neill finds the story of California in the sixties: when charlatans mixed with prodigies, free love was as possible as brainwashing, and utopia-or dystopia-was just an acid trip away.



]]> 504 Tom O'Neill 0316477575 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 3 4.04 2019
author: Tom O'Neill
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 213243908 A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.

Aiden Valentine has a secret: he's fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore's romance hotline, that's a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.

Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life-or lack thereof—she begins to question if she's as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending... even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.]]> 448 B.K. Borison 0593641191 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.04 2025
author: B.K. Borison
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 217473498
But I have been dragged back into his gilded cage, trapped beneath his rule, and bound to a fate I had tried to escape.

My body is his to break, my magic his to wield. And no matter how many nights I dream of Dacre storming these halls, of his hands pulling me from the darkness—dreams are nothing against the greed of a king.

Even if my mate comes for me, even if I am freed from my father’s grip, I’m not sure there will be anything left of me to save.

The kingdom is dying. The land withers beneath the weight of stolen magic, and my father’s reign will not end without bloodshed.

But I have lived in the dark for too long.

And I was not made to wither, I was made to burn.]]> 488 Holly Renee Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4
3.5�️ rounded up

I’m honestly so happy with how this trilogy wrapped up, but I’m so sad it’s over!! ]]> 3.56 2025
author: Holly Renee
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:
**my review is spoiler free, I promise!**

3.5�️ rounded up

I’m honestly so happy with how this trilogy wrapped up, but I’m so sad it’s over!!
]]> 221179254 This beautiful DELUXE EDITION hardcover featuring gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled art is only available for a limited first print run and while supplies last. This is a stunning special edition you will want to add to your collection.

YOUR NEXT ROMANTASY OBSESSION!

The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.

Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death. Her brother, fated to be heir twice over and unite the warring kingdoms, is dead.

Stripped of her Mind Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly auctioned off to the highest bidders in an auction � and as the heir-apparent’s sister, she fetches the highest price.

After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven a high ranking Bomardsun � and her long-time and ill-fated infatuation. Scion of a family known for their cruel control of Heart Magic, the Hearsts are ruthlessly ambitious, and Briony knows they will use her however they can to further their own interests.

Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help � and hope � may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…]]> 464 Julie Soto 1538771225 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.50 2025
author: Julie Soto
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123029113 A whimsical and heartwarming novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps her aunt run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her. But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power�

Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and might just know how to unlock the spell’s secrets. Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain bewitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell. Worse, he might actually be thawing.

Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera Swan is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone...and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.]]> 336 Sangu Mandanna Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.37 2025
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212808709 A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...]]> 464 Ali Hazelwood Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.93 2025
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60139504 How to Keep House While Drowning will introduce you to six life-changing principles that will revolutionize the way you approach home care—without endless to-do lists. Presented in 31 daily thoughts, this compassionate guide will help you begin to get free of the shame and anxiety you feel over home care.

Inside you will learn:
· How to shift your perspective of care tasks from moral to functional;
· How to stop negative self-talk and shame around care tasks;
· How to give yourself permission to rest, even when things aren’t finished;
· How to motivate yourself to care for your space.]]> 151 K.C. Davis 166800285X Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0
a super accessible/short read (I switched between audio and library ebook), but it was so validating!!! 100% recommend to anyone with depression, anxiety, and/or is neurodivergent and struggles with keeping up with “chores� like laundry, dishes, and just seemingly “basic� everyday tasks without getting completely overwhelmed - even if you (like me) have a partner to share the load with. it’s so nice to be equipped with new tools to help form some solid daily routine(s) while making sure I’m taking care of myself too!

thanks Chels (@blackistonbooks) for recommending!!! ]]> 4.22 2022
author: K.C. Davis
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
started + finished this book in one day (in full transparency, I started this MONTHS ago and got about halfway through and didn’t finish - right book, wrong time)!

a super accessible/short read (I switched between audio and library ebook), but it was so validating!!! 100% recommend to anyone with depression, anxiety, and/or is neurodivergent and struggles with keeping up with “chores� like laundry, dishes, and just seemingly “basic� everyday tasks without getting completely overwhelmed - even if you (like me) have a partner to share the load with. it’s so nice to be equipped with new tools to help form some solid daily routine(s) while making sure I’m taking care of myself too!

thanks Chels (@blackistonbooks) for recommending!!!
]]> 223639125
In his New York Times bestselling book, Discipline Is Destiny, Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case for a life of self-discipline. In this much-anticipated third installment in the Stoic Virtues series, he argues for the necessity of doing what’s right—even when it isn’t easy

For the ancients, everything worth pursuing in life flowed from a strong sense of justice—or one’s commitment to doing the right thing, no matter how difficult. In order to be courageous, wise, and self-disciplined, one must begin with justice. The influence of the modern world often tells us that acting justly is optional. Holiday argues that that’s simply untrue—and the fact that so few people today have the strength to stand by their convictions explains much about why we’re so unhappy.

In Right Thing, Right Now., Holiday draws on fascinating stories of historical figures such as Marcus Aurelius, Florence Nightingale, Jimmy Carter, Gandhi, and Frederick Douglass, whose examples of kindness, honesty, integrity, and loyalty we can emulate as pillars of upright living. Through the lives of these role models, listeners learn the transformational power of living by a moral code and, through the cautionary tales of unjust leaders, the consequences of an ill-formed conscience.

The Stoics never claimed that living justly was easy, only that it was necessary. And that the alternative—sacrificing our principles for something lesser—was considered only by cowards and fools. Right Thing, Right Now. is a powerful antidote to the moral failures of our modern age, and a manual for living virtuously.]]> Ryan Holiday Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 3.80 2024
author: Ryan Holiday
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
Ryan Holiday’s writing will always be so important to me! He makes stoicism so approachable and relevant to today’s society. I’d honestly read his grocery list at this point (and still somehow gain wisdom).
]]> 218153839 USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.

Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie.

Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she opened her mouth and a big fat fib fell out. She claimed that Jack Quinlan, hottest popstar of the moment, has promised to write an original song for the soundtrack. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now, Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan while facing down her past is Jane's idea of hell, but Dan just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?]]> 368 Annabel Monaghan 0593714105 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.28 2025
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214269008 The long-awaited follow-up to the Reese’s Book Club pick and New York Times bestselling global phenomenon The Light We Lost: a thrilling love story about the roles fate and choice play in shaping a life

It’s been ten years. In case you’re out there somewhere—in case you’re listening, I’m here. And I have so much to tell you.

It’s been nearly ten years since Gabe’s been gone when Lucy finds a tiny piece of paper in a box of his old photos. An address in Rome. Why did Gabe keep it, and what was he doing in Italy? Lucy buys a last-minute ticket. Impulsive, but Gabe always brought that out in her.

Lucy’s journey to uncover Gabe’s secret leads her to Dr. Dax Amstrong, a New Yorker in Italy working with an NGO. His broad shoulders and sad, intense eyes draw Lucy in. His touch reaches her in a forgotten place—one that no one has neared since Gabe.

But her old life awaits, along with an earth-shattering decision—whether she and Darren should tell their son Samuel the truth about his real father. How can Lucy move forward while she’s rooted in regret? Fate broke her heart in the past. Can finding new love set her free?]]> 352 Jill Santopolo 0593419200 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 3
The Light We Lost (despite being incredibly heartbreaking) is high on my list of favorite/most impactful fiction reads so I was obviously very excited to see that a follow-up was being published and to receive an eARC for it!

Unfortunately, this didn’t quite have the same impact for me. Lucy remained an unlikeable/unreliable narrator, having to face the consequences of her actions in book 1 - which I really appreciated. It also shared the same, consistent narrative style of telling the story via Lucy’s letters to Gabe. What I didn’t enjoy as much was the character development. It felt like we really only got spontaneous, quick resolutions to Lucy’s problems…rather than a fully-developed and thought out response. It was mainly focused on Lucy’s sadness and didn’t have as eventful of a plot as book 1.

That being said, I really loved getting to see where she ended up, how her kids were doing, and tie a nice little bow on a story that previously was so bittersweet.


Thank you to NetGalley + the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review! ]]> 3.86 2025
author: Jill Santopolo
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves:
review:
*no spoilers for book 1*

The Light We Lost (despite being incredibly heartbreaking) is high on my list of favorite/most impactful fiction reads so I was obviously very excited to see that a follow-up was being published and to receive an eARC for it!

Unfortunately, this didn’t quite have the same impact for me. Lucy remained an unlikeable/unreliable narrator, having to face the consequences of her actions in book 1 - which I really appreciated. It also shared the same, consistent narrative style of telling the story via Lucy’s letters to Gabe. What I didn’t enjoy as much was the character development. It felt like we really only got spontaneous, quick resolutions to Lucy’s problems…rather than a fully-developed and thought out response. It was mainly focused on Lucy’s sadness and didn’t have as eventful of a plot as book 1.

That being said, I really loved getting to see where she ended up, how her kids were doing, and tie a nice little bow on a story that previously was so bittersweet.


Thank you to NetGalley + the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
]]> 214269328 Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of... a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she’s falling apart.

Miles sees right through her though. Turns out, he knows a lot about grief and, surprisingly, he offers her a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again� list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the Lou has left behind, but she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that, sometimes, losing everything is only the first step to finding yourself, and love, again.]]> 416 Cara Bastone 0593595734 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.22 2025
author: Cara Bastone
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:
wow. WOW. my heart hurts - somehow simultaneously with grief and joy??? (no I’m not okay, thx)
]]> 213009552
From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman.

What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says...

Famous Last Words is the story of a crime, a marriage, and more secrets than Camilla ever could have imagined. This novel cements Gillian McAllister’s reputation as “the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations.� (Emily Henry)]]> 425 Gillian McAllister 0063338440 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4
Multiple times throughout this book I thought I had guessed the twist(s), but WOW I was wrong! Maybe it’s just because I’m typically a romance girlie, but I ate. this. up!!! Dual POV? Time jumps? Obsessed.

Definitely add you to your TBR asap! ]]> 3.97 2025
author: Gillian McAllister
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
I think Gillian McAllister might be coming close to dethroning Riley Sager as my favorite thriller author! I love the way she tells a story and keeps me guessing - bonus points for a London setting, too!

Multiple times throughout this book I thought I had guessed the twist(s), but WOW I was wrong! Maybe it’s just because I’m typically a romance girlie, but I ate. this. up!!! Dual POV? Time jumps? Obsessed.

Definitely add you to your TBR asap!
]]> 223852556 HALLE DAWSON didn’t know the whole truth.

For years, Halle believed her brother had run away, leaving her to fight the darkness alone. The mean words, fear, and loneliness wrapped around her mind, dragging her down. But when Halle stumbles upon an unexpected letter, everything changes.
With nowhere else to go and drowning in her emotions, Halle takes a chance at a new life. Moving to Sunlit Cove was only supposed to be temporary–move in with her brother, get back on her feet, and leave.
She didn’t plan for them. For him.

He’s broody, cruel, and thinks she’s here for all the wrong reasons. ASHER HAYES is loved by everyone in Sunlit Cove, and he doesn’t want Halle to stay, even if everyone’s welcomed her with open arms.
Finding each other under the stars, their walls begin to crumble. Their connection deepens, and Asher is forced to face his own demons.
Can Asher stop running from what haunts him? Can Halle find the strength to heal and forgive? Is it possible to ever really heal from your past, or do some scars stay with you forever?

Where The Stars Heal is book one in the Sunlit Cove series. A found family, small town romance full of all the angst and emotion. This story will take you on a journey of healing, self discovery, and finding love.]]> 312 K. Garrod 1763872009 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.38
author: K. Garrod
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
I had the absolute pleasure of being an alpha reader of this book and it was SO BEAUTIFUL to read again, in its fill form
]]> 223199392 Two good neighbors make the best of a bad Valentine’s Day in a funny and improbably romantic short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and Charlotte and Seth are not looking for romance. Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men. Having a stalker can do that to a person’s nerves. Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist. As in today recently. Heights, he’s fine with. Trust? Not so much. But when disaster traps them one flight up and no way down, an outrageously precarious predicament forces a tree-loving guy and a rattled girl next door to embrace their captivity. Soon their defenses are breaking away. Considering how close they both are to the edge, Charlotte and Seth could be in danger of falling—in love.]]> 82 Abby Jimenez 1662529082 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.11 2025
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199440249 definitely not.

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all.

Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It's in the past.

All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.

It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?

But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can't have.]]> 432 Casey McQuiston 1250862744 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.70 2024
author: Casey McQuiston
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
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]]> 25360188
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.]]> 176 Ta-Nehisi Coates 0679645985 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 4.46 2015
author: Ta-Nehisi Coates
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
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]]> 214175139
No one’s more surprised than Leigh when a prestigious MFA program in North Carolina accepts her. A former sorority girl, Leigh’s the first to admit she knows more about the lyrics of Taylor Swift than T.S. Eliot, and she’s never been able to shake the “all-style-no-substance� feedback her high school crush made in their poetry workshop. Bad enough that her tattooed, New Yorker tote bag-carrying classmates have read all the right authors and been published in the country's leading literary journals, Leigh's insecurities become all too real when Will, that same high school crush-turned-nemesis, shows up at orientation as a first-year in the program, too. And now, he’s William, exactly the kind of writer Leigh hates, complete with his pretentious sweater vests and tattered Moleskine.

Leigh’s determined to prove herself—and William—wrong by landing the program’s highly-coveted fellowship. But Will’s dead-set on it, too, and in a small cohort, they can't keep apart for long. When Will submits an intimate poem (that's maybe, probably, definitely about Leigh) to workshop, they’re both forced to realize there’s more to the other than what’s on the page. And what’s between the lines may be even more interesting.]]> 368 Katie Naymon 1538768550 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 3.64 2025
author: Katie Naymon
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/18
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2025 is off to a STRONG start with 5-star reads
]]> 210943364
The first of the book’s three intertwining essays is set in Dakar, Senegal. Despite being raised as a strict Afrocentrist, Coates had never set foot on the African continent until now. He roams the “steampunk� city of “old traditions and new machinery,� but everywhere he goes he feels as if he’s in two places at once: a modern city in Senegal and a mythic kingdom in his mind. Finally he travels to the slave castles off the coast and has his own reckoning with the legacy of the Afrocentric dream.

He takes readers along with him to Columbia, South Carolina, where he meets an educator whose job is threatened for teaching one of Coates’s own books. There he discovers a community of mostly white supporters who were transformed by the “racial reckoning� of 2020. But he also explores the backlash to this reckoning and the deeper myths of the community—a capital of the confederacy with statues of segregationists looming over its public squares.

And in Palestine, Coates discovers the devastating gap between the narratives we’ve accepted and the clashing reality of life on the ground. He meets with activists and dissidents, Israelis and Palestinians—the old, who remember their dispossessions on two continents, and the young, who have only known struggle and disillusionment. He travels into Jerusalem, the heart of Zionist mythology, and to the occupied territories, where he sees the reality the myth is meant to hide. It is this hidden story that draws him in and profoundly changes him—and makes the war that would soon come all the more devastating.

Written at a dramatic moment in American and global life, this work from one of the country’s most important writers is about the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive nationalist myths that shape our world—and our own souls—and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths.]]> 232 Ta-Nehisi Coates 0593230388 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.51 2024
author: Ta-Nehisi Coates
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 18774964
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.]]> 337 Fredrik Backman 1476738017 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.35 2012
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 181346634
There’s Always This Year is a triumph, brimming with joy, pain, solidarity, comfort, outrage, and hope. No matter the subject of his keen focus—whether it's basketball, or music, or performance—Hanif Abdurraqib’s exquisite writing is always poetry, always profound, and always a clarion call to radically reimagine how we think about our culture, our country, and ourselves.]]> 334 Hanif Abdurraqib 0593448790 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.32 2024
author: Hanif Abdurraqib
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 18813642 Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be cool, but it is pink—all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I’m not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once live-tweeted the September issue.

In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman of color while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years and commenting on the state of feminism today. The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny, and spot-on look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are, and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better.

Feel me, see me, hear me, reach me --
Peculiar benefits --
Typical first year professor --
To scratch, claw or grope clumsily or frantically --
How to be friends with another woman --
Girls, girls, girls --
I once was Miss America --
Garish, glorious spectacles --
Not here to make friends --
How we all lose --
Reaching for catharsis : getting fat right (or wrong) and Diana Spechler's Skinny --
The smooth surfaces of idyll --
The careless language of sexual violence --
What we hunger for --
The illusion of safety/the safety of illusion --
The spectacle of broken men --
A tale of three coming out stories --
Beyond the measure of men --
Some jokes are funnier than others --
Dear young ladies who love Chris Brown --
So much they would let him beat them --
Blurred lines, indeed --
The trouble with Prince Charming, or, He who trespassed against us --
The solace of preparing fried foods and other quaint remembrances from 1960s Mississippi : thoughts on The help --
Surviving Django --
Beyond the struggle narrative --
The morality of Tyler Perry --
The last day of a young black man --
When less is more --
The politics of respectability --
When Twitter does what journalism cannot --
The alienable rights of women --
Holding out for a hero --
A tale of two profiles --
The racism we all carry --
Tragedy, call, compassion, response --
Bad feminist : take one --
Bad feminist : take two]]> 320 Roxane Gay 0062282719 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.93 2014
author: Roxane Gay
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 36687229 267 Mikki Kendall Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.37 2020
author: Mikki Kendall
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 33574165
Eloquent rage keeps us all honest and accountable. It reminds women that they don’t have to settle for less. When Cooper learned of her grandmother's eloquent rage about love, sex, and marriage in an epic and hilarious front-porch confrontation, her life was changed. And it took another intervention, this time staged by one of her homegirls, to turn Brittney into the fierce feminist she is today. In Brittney Cooper’s world, neither mean girls nor fuckboys ever win. But homegirls emerge as heroes. This book argues that ultimately feminism, friendship, and faith in one's own superpowers are all we really need to turn things right side up again.]]> 288 Brittney Cooper 1250112575 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.38 2018
author: Brittney Cooper
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 25330108
Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today's struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections and analyzes today's struggles against state terror, from Ferguson to Palestine.

Facing a world of outrageous injustice, Davis challenges us to imagine and build the movement for human liberation. And in doing so, she reminds us that "Freedom is a constant struggle."]]> 158 Angela Y. Davis 1608465640 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.45 2015
author: Angela Y. Davis
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 6792458
As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status--much like their grandparents before them.

In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community--and all of us--to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.]]> 290 Michelle Alexander Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.52 2010
author: Michelle Alexander
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 25898216 Stamped from the Beginning uses the lives of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and anti-racists. From Puritan minister Cotton Mather to Thomas Jefferson, from fiery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to brilliant scholar W. E. B. Du Bois to legendary anti-prison activist Angela Davis, Kendi shows how and why some of our leading pro-slavery and pro–civil rights thinkers have challenged or helped cement racist ideas in America.

As Kendi illustrates, racist thinking did not arise from ignorance or hatred. Racist ideas were created and popularized in an effort to defend deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and to rationalize the nation’s racial inequities in everything from wealth to health. While racist ideas are easily produced and easily consumed, they can also be discredited. In shedding much-needed light on the murky history of racist ideas, Stamped from the Beginning offers tools to expose them—and in the process, reason to hope.]]> 592 Ibram X. Kendi 1568584636 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.53 2016
author: Ibram X. Kendi
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 209455843
Sure, Dom was Josh’s life-long best friend. He’s also the infuriating man who broke Maddie’s heart back when she was naïve enough to give it to him. But since Dom insists on following the rules and Josh didn’t leave much room for Maddie to argue the matter, they embark together on a farewell trip that spans thousands of miles, exploring new places and revisiting their complicated history along the way.

After a snowstorm leads to a shared bed, Maddie starts to wonder if her brother might be matchmaking from the grave. But when grief also reopens old wounds between them, Maddie will need more than Josh’s ghostly guidance to trust Dom again.]]> 432 Lauren Connolly Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5
this is the story of maddie and dom, their love and their grief and their messiness and growth and everything in between. but even more than that it’s the most beautiful lesson in what it’s like to be human; to be vulnerable enough to share parts of yourself with another person (be it romantic, platonically, or familial) and be met with the same vulnerability in return. I also love that the story took place over a 2-ish year period. nothing felt fake or forced or rushed, but instead, completely authentic.

how lucky are we to be alive and experience love - in all of its many forms? ]]> 4.06 2024
author: Lauren Connolly
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:
ya know that feeling when you’ve just read a book that you know is going to stick with you for a very very long time? yeaaaaah this is one of them - in the absolute best way

this is the story of maddie and dom, their love and their grief and their messiness and growth and everything in between. but even more than that it’s the most beautiful lesson in what it’s like to be human; to be vulnerable enough to share parts of yourself with another person (be it romantic, platonically, or familial) and be met with the same vulnerability in return. I also love that the story took place over a 2-ish year period. nothing felt fake or forced or rushed, but instead, completely authentic.

how lucky are we to be alive and experience love - in all of its many forms?
]]> 219301746 A hitmaking songwriter and a bitter musician share a startling and inexplicable connection that they’ll do anything to shake, in the next sparkling, magical book from Ashley Poston.

Joni Lark is living the dream. She’s one of the most coveted songwriters in LA…and she can’t seem to write. There’s an emptiness inside her, and nothing seems to fill it.

When she returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, she hopes that the sand, the surf, and the concerts at The Revelry, her family’s music venue, will spark her inspiration. But when she gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is avoiding her, her mother’s memories are fading fast, and The Revelry is closing.

How can she think about writing her next song when everything is changing without her?

Until she hears it. A melody in her head, lyric-less and half-formed, and an alluring and addictive voice to go with it—belonging, apparently, to a wry musician with hangups of his own.

Surely, he’s a figment of her overworked imagination.

But then the very real man attached to the voice shows up in Vienna Shores. He’s aggravating and gruff on the outside—nothing like the sweet, funny voice in Joni’s head—and he has a plan:

They’ll finish the song haunting them both, break their connection, and hope they don’t risk their hearts in the process.

Because that song stuck in their heads? Maybe it’s there for a reason.]]> 384 Ashley Poston 0593641000 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.15 2025
author: Ashley Poston
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 76713323 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius as war looms on the horizon. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don't.

With her heart sworn to the warrior-prince by her side, and her fealty pledged to the people she is determined to save, Aelin will delve into the depths of her power to protect those she loves. But as monsters emerge from the horrors of the past, and dark forces become poised to claim her world, the only chance for salvation will lie in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

In this breathtaking fifth installment of the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series, Aelin will have to choose what—and who—to sacrifice if she's to keep the world of Erilea from breaking apart.]]> 693 Sarah J. Maas 1639731024 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.65 2016
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves:
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]]> 76714487 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq have arrived in the shining city of Antica to forge an alliance with the Khagan of the Southern Continent, whose vast armies are Erilea's last hope. But they have also come to Antica for another purpose: to seek healing at the famed Torre Cesme for the wounds Chaol received in Rifthold.

After enduring unspeakable horrors as a child, Yrene Towers has no desire to help the young lord from Adarlan, let alone heal him. Yet she has sworn an oath to assist those in need—and will honor it. But Lord Westfall carries shadows from his own past, and Yrene soon comes to realize they could engulf them both.

In this sweeping parallel novel to the New York Times bestselling Empire of Storms, Chaol, Nesryn, and Yrene will have to draw on every scrap of their resilience if they wish to save their friends. But while they become entangled in the political webs of the khaganate, deep in the shadows of mighty mountains where warriors soar on legendary ruks, long-awaited answers slumber. Answers that might offer their world a chance at survival—or doom them all . . .]]> 663 Sarah J. Maas 1639731040 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4 4.26 2017
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
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]]> 209439447 THE STORM IS COMING . . .

Get ready to fly or die in the breathtaking follow-up to Fourth Wing and Iron Flame from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.]]> 527 Rebecca Yarros 1649377150 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.23 2025
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
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]]> 131068071
A retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past in this fresh take on the spy thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.

Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.

But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends—all retirees from the CIA—to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club� of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.

Complicating their efforts is Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information—and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn.

As Jo’s investigation collides with the Martini Club’s maneuvers, Maggie’s hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends—and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau—Maggie might just be able to save the life she’s built.]]> 341 Tess Gerritsen 1662515111 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.34 2023
author: Tess Gerritsen
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> 223227049 A deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free.

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show’s millions of fans knew, hidden even from her costars, was her secret double life in a cult.

An only child who often had to fend for herself and always wanted a place to belong, Lenz found the safe haven she’d been searching for in a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives. However, the group soon morphed into something more sinister—a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse, and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Piece by piece, Lenz began to give away her autonomy, ultimately relocating to the Family’s Pacific Northwest compound, overseen by a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and steadily drained millions of her TV income without her knowledge. Family “minders� assigned to her on set, “Maoist struggle session”–inspired meetings in the basement of a filthy house, and regular counseling with “Leadership� were just part of the tactics used to keep her loyal.

Only when she became a mother did Lenz find the courage to leave and spare her child from a similar fate. After nearly a decade (and with the unlikely help of a One Tree Hill superfan), she finally managed to escape the family’s grip and begin to heal from the deep trauma that forever altered her relationship with God and her understanding of faith.

Written with powerful honesty and dark humor, Dinner for Vampires is an inspiring story about the importance of identity and understanding what you believe.

8 hrs. 17 min.]]> 9 Bethany Joy Lenz Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0
this was a book club pick, and I feel weird saying I enjoyed it??? but as someone with some deeeeep religious trauma, there were so many instances where I related to BJL (unfortunately) - it both broke my heart (for both of us), but was also very healing and validating?

definitely a tough read, but 100% recommend on audio]]> 4.25 2024
author: Bethany Joy Lenz
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:
lots to unpack here!!!

this was a book club pick, and I feel weird saying I enjoyed it??? but as someone with some deeeeep religious trauma, there were so many instances where I related to BJL (unfortunately) - it both broke my heart (for both of us), but was also very healing and validating?

definitely a tough read, but 100% recommend on audio
]]> 217439159 The banter from My Lady Jane meets the London aesthetics of The Parent Trap in this romantic comedy. Originally released in 2022, the newest edition of Don't Be In Love will put you in the heart of London as a university student.

When twenty-one-year-old, career-driven Adelaide Adorno decides to transfer to one of the most prestigious universities in the world, London's Townsen University, for her senior year, she couldn’t be happier. Moving to London granted her new friends, a gorgeous apartment in the city, and a chance to work in luxury marketing.

Until she meets Dorian Blackwood—the youngest of the prominent British family known for their impression on the entertainment industry—who's plastered across every tabloid in Europe for his famous parents, handsome look, and notable dating life. He’s not only a student at Townsen University but the person her new best friend, and roommate, is absolutely in love with. Which is how Adelaide ultimately becomes twisted into a deal with Dorian to keep their secret.

But just because Dorian agrees to keep their secret doesn’t mean he’ll make life easy for her. Every lavish gala, photographed event in the city, and excuse to wear an expensive gown becomes a risk for their secret to come out. With Adelaide’s friendship on the line and her future career at risk, she’ll do anything she can to avoid him. Which should be easy for someone who doesn’t date, let alone believe in love—right?]]> 323 Liana Cincotti Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.76 2022
author: Liana Cincotti
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> 220389457
When Everleigh Dangerfield’s baking disaster necessitates a call to 911, firefighter Griffin Brantley douses the flames in the kitchen, but the ones he stokes in Everleigh are an entirely different story. Unfortunately, Everleigh’s only visiting and doesn’t do casual hookups, no matter how smoldering the temptation. But Everleigh’s holiday mishaps have just begun. And Griffin is seemingly always on call. If Everleigh is game for a change of plans, he can give her the merriest Christmas of her life.

Alexandria Bellefleur’s Merriment and Mayhem is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 58 Alexandria Bellefleur 1662529341 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 3 3.28 2024
author: Alexandria Bellefleur
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> 220389090
All Evie Cruz wants for Christmas is a nap. And maybe some ornaments for her naked Christmas tree. And while she’s making a list, she wouldn’t mind unwrapping her sexy upstairs neighbor like a present. Luckily, the building’s Santa-themed party and a surprise sprig of mistletoe give her just the opening she needs to make all her wishes come true.

Alexis Daria’s Only Santas in the Building is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 65 Alexis Daria 1662529376 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 3 3.36 2024
author: Alexis Daria
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> 150260809
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders� capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 886 Rebecca Yarros Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.56 2023
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 50892287 Alternate cover edition can be found here

One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners..

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.
]]> 307 Christina Lauren 198212394X Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4
I do wish we had gotten a little more of the “time jump�/groundhog day stuff because I was basically anxious the entire book waiting for something to happen lmao]]> 3.65 2020
author: Christina Lauren
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:
a cute lil cozy holiday rom-com with a sprinkle of magical realism

I do wish we had gotten a little more of the “time jump�/groundhog day stuff because I was basically anxious the entire book waiting for something to happen lmao
]]> 210191773 Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.]]> 560 R.F. Kuang 0063021471 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.14 2025
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.60 2025
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 210223811 Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.]]> 400 R.F. Kuang Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.04 2025
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220160814 From #1 New York Times bestseller Lisa Jewell, an author “at the very top of her game� (Lucy Foley)—three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller.

“Who are you? Who are you really?�

Nick Radcliffe is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. He’s just what Nina Swann needed in her life after her husband’s unexpected death. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. What she finds is more than unsettling�

“Because there are things that don’t make sense, and I’ve been so patient, so very patient…�

Martha is a florist living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband Alistair. But lately, Alistair has been traveling more and more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. When Martha questions him about his frequent absences, he always has a legitimate explanation, but Martha can’t share the feeling that something isn't right.

“You know that’s mad, don’t you? I’m your husband. We know everything there is to know about each other.�

Nina, Martha, and Ash are on a collision course with a shocking truth that is far darker than anyone could have imagined. And all three are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: Don’t let him in. But the past won’t stay buried forever.]]> 368 Lisa Jewell 1668033879 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.99 2025
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213243915 The #1 New York Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is... complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach about love, and what it actually means to be family.]]> 450 Jojo Moyes 1984879324 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.86 2025
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221203666 Love comes home for the challah-days in this sparkling romance.

Snow is falling, holiday lights are twinkling, and Abby Cohen is pissed. For one thing, her most annoying customer, Seth, has been coming into her café every morning with his sunshiny attitude, determined to break down her carefully constructed emotional walls. And, as the only Jew on the tourism board of her Vermont town, Abby's been charged with planning their fledgling Hanukkah festival. Unfortunately, the local vendors don’t understand that the story of Hanukkah cannot be told with light-up plastic figures from the Nativity scene, even if the Three Wise Men wear yarmulkes.

Desperate for support, Abby puts out a call for help online and discovers she was wrong about being the only Jew within a hundred miles. There's one Seth.

As it turns out, Seth’s parents have been badgering him to bring a Nice Jewish Girlfriend home to New York City for Hanukkah, and if Abby can survive his incessant, irritatingly handsome smiles, he’ll introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success. But over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan, Abby begins to realize that her fake boyfriend and his family might just be igniting a flame in her own guarded heart.]]> 9 Amanda Elliot Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5
fake dating
grumpy x sunshine
holidays in NYC
found family


saving a lot of my thoughts for after book club, but this was such a special story of how important it is to respect and honor EVERYONE’S traditions!!! and I loved Abby’s character development and growth throughout the story ]]> 3.88 2024
author: Amanda Elliot
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:
This was (regrettably) my first Hanukkah read, and I LOVED EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF IT!!!!

fake dating
grumpy x sunshine
holidays in NYC
found family


saving a lot of my thoughts for after book club, but this was such a special story of how important it is to respect and honor EVERYONE’S traditions!!! and I loved Abby’s character development and growth throughout the story
]]> 218137764 A small-town Christmas novella by the New York Times bestselling author of LAKEFRONT BILLIONAIRES series that will make you want to pack your bags and spend the holiday in Lake Wisteria.

Catalina
Playing the part of my sister’s maid of honor is easy even if she’s marrying my ex.
But playing nice with the best man? An impossible task given our history.
Sure, Luke Darling may be suspiciously kind, incredibly handsome, and stubborn to a fault, but regardless of how hard he tries to make me see otherwise, I’m not interested.
It’s on me to remind him that he’s my ex-boyfriend’s best friend.
And the one I’m secretly starting to wish I met first.

Luke
My job as the best man is a simple one, except for one minor issue.
I’ve spent so much time avoiding my best friend’s ex that I didn’t consider what could happen if I started craving Catalina Martinez’s company instead.
She is only in Lake Wisteria for the winter wedding, but her January departure date won’t stop me from pursuing her.
Getting her to date me would be nothing short of a Christmas miracle, but I’m determined to make her mine.
�Tis the season to fall in love…even if I’m the only one taking the risk.

My December Darling is a 50,000 word, Christmas-themed romance between a grumpy maid of honor and an outgoing best man who chases after what he wants. ]]> 252 Lauren Asher 1964990025 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.72 2024
author: Lauren Asher
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220389455
Nina and William are underpaid adjunct professors at the same university, where winter break is no break at all: ’tis the season to make extra money. When their holiday side hustle has them stranded by a blinding blizzard in the middle of nowhere, there’s nothing to do but cuddle up for warmth and play a game of Never Have I Ever to pass the time. But in the game of love, secrets never stay secret for long�

Olivia Dade’s All by My Elf is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 55 Olivia Dade 166252823X Kelsi (kelsbrary) 2 2.58 2024
author: Olivia Dade
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 2.58
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:
a MMC with the same name as my brother is just not for me lol
]]> 204593914 Welcome to Phantasma. There are only two rules to the game: Stay alive. And don’t fall in love.

When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize—a single wish.

Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Every day the house creates new monsters. But just as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers her a bargain.

Charming, arrogant and infuriatingly attractive, Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.

Ophelia knows she shouldn’t trust him. Blackwell doesn’t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels a dark and irresistible attraction drawing them closer and closer.

Her life is on the line. But in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart . . .]]> 497 Kaylie Smith 1538769255 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.05 2024
author: Kaylie Smith
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212127083
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.]]> 588 Callie Hart Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.34 2024
author: Callie Hart
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> 203579177 From the bestselling author of Hidden Pictures comes a breathtaking work of suspense about a father trying to save his daughter from a life-altering decision that will put everything he loves on the line.

Frank Szatowski is shocked when his daughter, Maggie, calls him for the first time in three years. He was convinced that their estrangement would become permanent. He’s even more surprised when she invites him to her upcoming wedding in New Hampshire. Frank is ecstatic, and determined to finally make things right.

He arrives to find that the wedding is at a private estate—very secluded, very luxurious, very much out of his league. It seems that Maggie failed to mention that she’s marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire. Feeling desperately out of place, Frank focuses on reconnecting with Maggie and getting to know her new family. But it’s difficult: Aidan is withdrawn and evasive; Maggie doesn’t seem to have time for him; and he finds that the locals are disturbingly hostile to the Gardners. Frank needs to know more about this family his daughter is marrying into, but if he pushes too hard, he could lose Maggie forever.

An edge-of-your-seat thriller that delves deep into the heart of one family, The Last One at the Wedding is a work of brilliant suspense from a true modern master.]]> 338 Jason Rekulak 1250895782 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.61 2024
author: Jason Rekulak
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 127305853
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm's way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 471 Kristin Hannah 1250178630 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.58 2024
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 208931300 An exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family—but especially love—from the global phenomenon Sally Rooney.

Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common.

Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties—successful, competent, and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women—his enduring first love, Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke.

Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.

For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude—a period of desire, despair, and possibility; a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.]]> 454 Sally Rooney 0374602638 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 3.86 2024
author: Sally Rooney
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 to-read 4.11 2024
author: Alison Espach
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220389465 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.

Evie Crowe is starting over in a strange town with her newborn, and men are the furthest thing from her mind. If only the quiet, hulking farmer, Luke Ward, would stop coming into the thrift shop and piquing her reluctant interest. Evie wants to stay single all the way—she can’t trust anything more than friends-with-holiday-benefits. But Luke is in it for the long haul. He’s fixed on making this a Christmas Evie will remember forever. If she gives him a chance.

Tessa Bailey’s Merry Ever After is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 59 Tessa Bailey 1662528736 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 1 this was…something. 2.79 2024
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 2.79
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:
this was…something.
]]> 220389458 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.

All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.

Ali Hazelwood’s Cruel Winter with You is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 73 Ali Hazelwood 1662528396 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 3 3.68 2024
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:
these people need to go to therapy
]]> 50608051 'Tis the season for finding romance in this hilarious and uplifting holiday read

When it comes to relationships, thirty-four-year-old Kate Turner is ready to say "Bah, humbug." The sleepy town of Blexford, England, isn't exactly brimming with prospects, and anyway, Kate's found fulfillment in her career as a designer, and in her delicious side job baking for her old friend Matt's neighborhood café. But then her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help singles find love before the holidays. Twenty-three days until Christmas. Twelve dates with twelve different men. The odds must finally be in her favor . . . right?

Yet with each new date more disastrous than the one before--and the whole town keeping tabs on her misadventures--Kate must remind herself that sometimes love, like mistletoe, shows up where it's least expected. And maybe, just maybe, it's been right under her nose all along. . . .]]> 320 Jenny Bayliss Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4 3.54 2020
author: Jenny Bayliss
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:
never met a friends to lovers romance that I didn’t like
]]> 208894884
Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat, and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she’d rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column, and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found offline, chosen by her children.

From awkward encounters to unexpected connections, Anna gamely begins to put herself out there, asking out waiters, the mailman, and even her celebrity crush. But when a romantic connection appears where she least expected it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love?]]> 368 Sophie Cousens 0593718909 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.10 2024
author: Sophie Cousens
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 76707900 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past�

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.]]> 648 Sarah J. Maas 1639731008 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.64 2015
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:
I fear I will never love a series as much as I am loving this one
]]> 63490073 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A TikTok sensation! Sparks fly when a competitive figure skater and hockey team captain are forced to share a rink.

Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. It looks like everything is going according to plan when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills and lands a place on their competitive figure skating team.

Nothing will stand in her way, not even the captain of the hockey team, Nate Hawkins.

Nate’s focus as team captain is on keeping his team on the ice. Which is tricky when a facilities mishap means they are forced to share a rink with the figure skating team—including Anastasia, who clearly can’t stand him.

But when Anastasia’s skating partner faces an uncertain future, she may have to look to Nate to take her shot.

Sparks fly, but Anastasia isn’t worried…because she could never like a hockey player, right?]]> 447 Hannah Grace Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 3.96 2022
author: Hannah Grace
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/02
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 40195420 One man's battle to save hundreds of jobs by taking on China and demonstrating the greatness of American business.

With over $500 million a year in sales, the Bassett Furniture Company was once the world's biggest wood furniture manufacturer. Run by the same powerful Virginia family for three generations, it was also the center of life in Bassett, VA-an unincorporated town that existed solely for the people who built the company's products. But beginning in the 1980s, the Bassett company suffered from an influx of cheap Chinese furniture as the first waves of Asian competition hit, and ultimately was forced to send its production offshore to Asia.

Only one man fought back. That man is John Bassett III, a descendant of the Bassetts whose own Vaughan-Bassett company today employs more than 700 Virginians and has sales of over $90 million. In FACTORY MAN, Beth Macy brings to life Bassett's deeply personal furniture and family story. As she shows how he uses legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies, and sheer grit, cunning, and will to save hundreds of jobs, she also discovers the hidden and shocking truth about industry and America.]]> 451 Beth Macy Kelsi (kelsbrary) 0 4.01 2014
author: Beth Macy
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 203578886 By that logic, hate and construction may as well be condemned.

LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had one short and contentious summer fling when they were teens.
Certainly nothing to build a foundation on.
But a decade later, when their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building, they're thrust back together and have to figure out how to brace up the pieces.
LaRynn has the money, but to access her trust, she has to be married.
Deacon has the construction expertise, but lacks the funds.
A deal is struck: Marry for however long it takes to fix up the property, collect a profit, and cut ties.
Thrust into a home without walls, they quickly learn that it's easy to hide behind emotional ones, even in a marriage. But, with all the exposure and pitfalls that come with living with the opposite sex (and none of the perks) they'll also have to learn what it means to truly co-operate as a team.

The Co-op is a steamy story about restoration and renovation, and uncovering all the things that build character within ourselves. It's about the never-ending construction project that partnership is, and finding enjoyment at every stage.]]> 352 Tarah DeWitt 1250329388 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 3.59 2022
author: Tarah DeWitt
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 76706470 576 Sarah J. Maas Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4 4.44 2014
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
lord have mercy, this series is gonna be the death of me
]]> 60018635 A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....
]]> 318 Sangu Mandanna 059343935X Kelsi (kelsbrary) 5 4.04 2022
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/19
shelves:
review:
This was the perfect cozy, witchy, atmospheric read
]]> 208920886 The fate of a cursed nation depends on a princess who must outwit a mortal enemy and outlast the trials of a death-defying ritual in a thrilling adventure by USA Today bestselling author Sariah Wilson.

Lia is the princess of Locris, a dying desert nation cursed centuries ago by an earth goddess—one still worshipped by the thriving and adversarial nation of Ilion. Every year, Ilion offers the goddess a sacrifice: two Locrian maidens forced to compete in a life-and-death race to reach her temple. In a millennium, no maiden has made it out of Ilion alive. This year, Lia is one of the hunted.

An education in battle gives her a fighting chance, but the challenges are greater than she feared: Lia’s beloved but untrained sister Quynh has been put in the path of danger. The winding streets of Ilion itself have been transformed into a labyrinthine maze of countless choices and dead ends. And if the risks weren’t significant enough, Lia is reluctantly drawn to the commandingly attractive Jason, an Ilionian sailor she loathes to trust and desires like no man before.

The tribute game is on. It’s up to Lia to lift the goddess’s curse, restore Locris to its former glory, and change the fate of every young woman destined to follow in her path.]]> 524 Sariah Wilson 1662525133 Kelsi (kelsbrary) 4
Greek mythology, a badass FMC, deadly trials, romance - what more could I possibly ask for?

after reading The Song of Achilles, I was itching for another great mythology-based read and A Tribute of Fire totally delivered.

if you love a slow-burn, forbidden romantasy vibe - you’re going to be obsessed!!!

I do feel that there were some pacing issues throughout, and found myself wanting to “press fast forward� at some points, which lead me to subtract a star from my rating.

that being said, I’ll definitely be recommending and can’t wait for book 2!]]> 4.12 2024
author: Sariah Wilson
name: Kelsi (kelsbrary)
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/19
shelves:
review:
thank you to the author for the arc!!

Greek mythology, a badass FMC, deadly trials, romance - what more could I possibly ask for?

after reading The Song of Achilles, I was itching for another great mythology-based read and A Tribute of Fire totally delivered.

if you love a slow-burn, forbidden romantasy vibe - you’re going to be obsessed!!!

I do feel that there were some pacing issues throughout, and found myself wanting to “press fast forward� at some points, which lead me to subtract a star from my rating.

that being said, I’ll definitely be recommending and can’t wait for book 2!
]]>