en-US Thu, 01 May 2025 22:19:39 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 90202302 “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.�� —Xaden Riorson

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.]]> 623 Rebecca Yarros 1649374178 Brenda 0 currently-reading 4.33 2023
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/01
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile�� humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die]]> 528 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Brenda 5 I hate how much I loved this book ]]> 4.56 2023
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
review:
��հ���
I hate how much I loved this book
]]> 218559595 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 ������’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.]]> 432 Emily Henry Brenda 0 currently-reading 4.19 2025
author: Emily Henry
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 75513900 She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.
He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites�� powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.]]> 523 Lauren Roberts Brenda 0 to-read 4.17 2023
author: Lauren Roberts
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 181344829 A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was��.

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.]]> 410 Ali Hazelwood Brenda 0 to-read 3.98 2024
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
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 Brenda 4 4.05 2025
author: B.K. Borison
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
review:
yall this book was so cute omg
]]> 57945316 From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?]]> 544 R.F. Kuang 0063021420 Brenda 0 to-read 4.17 2022
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60040033
He’s arrogant, self-centered, and the man doesn’t seem to know what a filter is, let alone how to use one. He’s had everything served to him on a silver platter, including endless strings of women, and apparently, I’m up next.

His only problem? I have no intention of falling for his shi—um, charm.

I have the solution to all my sexual frustrations in a drawer at home, and it’s far less complicated than Carter Beckett. Sure, he may be pretty, but he’s also a walking, talking reminder for you to wrap it before you tap it.

But then I start letting my guard down, and he starts showing me pieces of himself I had no intention of seeing. The bricks surrounding me may be tumbling down one by one, but I’m not sold yet, which means for the first time in his life, Carter’s the one begging.

For my time, my trust, for a single chance.
For me to just…consider him.]]> 462 Becka Mack Brenda 3 3.82 2022
author: Becka Mack
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves:
review:
honestly really enjoyed this book but it kinda dragged at the end. There’s no reason for this book to be over 350 pages. I’m a firm believer that romance books should be 300-350 pages, there is no reason for it to exceed 400 pages
]]> 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 Brenda 0 to-read 4.22 2025
author: Cara Bastone
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 195820807
Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected--including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?]]> 432 Abby Jimenez 1538704439 Brenda 0 currently-reading 4.35 2024
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 217513554 B.K. Borison Brenda 0 to-read 4.71 2026
author: B.K. Borison
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.71
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222279220 “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 USA Today bestselling author of Business Casual, 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!]]> 384 B.K. Borison 0063430401 Brenda 0 to-read 4.61 2025
author: B.K. Borison
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218695891 Popular bookstagrammer Chip Pons's gay rom-com about two men who impulsively pose as a couple to compete in a reality show contest just minutes after meeting at an airport, and their run-in��with��the very real feelings that start to simmer between them.

Catching flights...& feelings...has never been more complicated.

Asher Bennet thought his relationship was just fine. Until he’s unceremoniously dumped at the Boston airport ahead of the world-wide travel competition reality show, The Epic Trek. Armed with only a ticket and righteous indignation, Asher finds the closest solace he can: a mimosa and mozzarella sticks combo��at an airport TGI Fridays. Still, Asher is determined to find a new partner and luckily, right in front of him is a smooth-talking airline pilot ready for takeoff.��

Theo Fernandez has been grounded. He’s the only pilot that has never taken a vacation and the edict has been passed prove you're prioritizing a work-life balance or say goodbye to your wings. As he struggles to bask in his new downtime, without reconnecting��with his family, he stumbles upon the perfect opportunity. The handsome guy who "stole" his mozzarella sticks at his favorite terminal eatery has a sudden opening for a partner . . . on a nationally televised reality show.

Theo and Asher��buckle up to��fake date for the cameras,��but as they do��the undercurrents of attraction make them wonder if��their on-screen chemistry hints at something bigger. Do they have the courage to leave behind their baggage, and wing it together for another chance at love?]]> 384 Chip Pons 0593853504 Brenda 0 to-read 4.34 2025
author: Chip Pons
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59089704 What if you could take a vacation to your past?

With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a different kind of love story.

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?]]> 310 Emma Straub 052553900X Brenda 0 currently-reading 3.78 2022
author: Emma Straub
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 123856973
This is exactly what’s happened to Clarice Miller. Her mother’s fourth husband has three sons, all unique in their own way, and also handsome, dominant, and, so it seems, madly attracted to their new stepsister.

And she ������’t deny she’s all of a flutter whenever they’re around; her pulse rockets and her skin heats. Which one to choose? But should she choose any? They’re her new brothers, right, isn’t that kinky as f**k?

The matter is quickly taken out of her hands when she displeases city boy, Parker, and he tips her over his knee for a spanking and then gives her what she’s been searching for. Hugh, a hunk of a fireman, doesn’t have a problem with his brother’s firm hand and soon shows her his wild side.

But can she handle the eldest brother on top of Parker’s and Hugh’s passion-infused demands? A too-hot-to-handle killing machine who turns up fresh from a war zone all brooding and mysterious and with very particular needs.

Only time will tell if Clarice can keep her cool when life reaches boiling point. If she’ll be able to bend to her brothers�� will, and if her body is up to the challenge of taking everything they have to offer—at the same time.

*This sexy book contains hanky-panky spanking and stepsibling shenanigans. Please do not buy if such material offends you.
 ]��> 200 Lily Harlem Brenda 1 honestly idk wtf I just read 3.92
author: Lily Harlem
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves:
review:
honestly idk wtf I just read
]]> 57111160
His smile is what got me.
It was charming but held a hint of the sexy thoughts I was hoping he had in his head like I did with only our first glance.
He may be tall, dark and handsome but I’m telling you, it was his smile that got me. I’m sure of that detail.
Too bad all I did was avert my gaze and let a blush rise up to my cheeks, outing me for having sordid thoughts about my son’s preschool teacher.
Trent Morgan was everything I ever wanted, but there was no way I was ever going there.
Even if I had fallen at first sight ��

Falling at First Sight is a contemporary romance short story - sweet and sexy - with a happily ever after.]]> 60 Willow Winters Brenda 3 quick cute read 3.47
author: Willow Winters
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.47
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
quick cute read
]]> 223878710 Adam Silvera Brenda 0 to-read 4.50
author: Adam Silvera
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199531917
Paz Dario stays up every night, waiting for the Death-Cast call that would mean he doesn’t have to keep faking his way through this lonely life. After a devastating day, Paz decides he’s done waiting around for Death-Cast. If they say he’s not dying, he’ll just have to prove them wrong. But right before Paz can die, a boy saves his life.

Alano Rosa is heir to the Death-Cast empire that encourages everyone to live their best lives, but he doesn’t feel in control of his own existence thanks to his father. And with a violent organization called the Death Guard threatening Alano, his End Day might be closer than he thinks. It’s time to live.

Fate brings Paz and Alano together, but it’s now up to the boys to survive the tragic trials ahead so no one dies at the end.

This book contains themes that some readers may find difficult.]]> 720 Adam Silvera 0063240858 Brenda 0 to-read 4.20 2025
author: Adam Silvera
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
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 Brenda 5 the amount of times i gasped, said “what the f*ck???, and cried in the last 24 hours is insane.
I will need at least 15 business days to recover ]]> 4.61 2025
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves:
review:
im unwell.
the amount of times i gasped, said “what the f*ck???, and cried in the last 24 hours is insane.
I will need at least 15 business days to recover
]]> 220817728 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s Space Shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.

Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.]]> 352 Taylor Jenkins Reid 0593158717 Brenda 0 to-read 4.44 2025
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 22609310
For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is hiding a huge secret. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything Auburn loves most, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it—but can she do it?]]> 306 Colleen Hoover 1476791457 Brenda 5
How is it that coho had the ability to make me cry over and over. The book already had me crying like ten pages in ]]> 4.14 2015
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/04
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:
Colleen Hoover you have done it again

How is it that coho had the ability to make me cry over and over. The book already had me crying like ten pages in
]]> 150444501
Liana Sarkar lives and breathes music, hoping to follow in the footsteps of her A&R coordinator father. Maybe if she succeeds, he’ll finally give her the time of day instead of drowning himself in work to distract from the grief of her mother’s passing.

When Liana accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band, Third Eye, she makes it her mission to steer them towards success—without them discovering her role in their setback. But as she gets closer to Third Eye, especially their enigmatic leader Skyler Moon, it becomes harder to hide the truth.

With both her heart and their futures on the line, will Liana be able to undo the damage she’s caused?

Praise for A Show for Two
“You’ll fall head-over-heels in love with these characters while they fall in love with each other.”���� Chloe Gong,��#1 New York Times�� bestselling author of�� These Violent Delights
“Tender and bittersweet.�� �� Tahereh Mafi,��#1 New York Times�� bestselling author of Shatter Me

Praise for�� Counting Down with You
“I. Love. This. Book.�� �� Mark Oshiro, award-winning author of�� Anger Is a Gift
“Steals your heart from start to finish.�� �� Emma Lord,�� New York Times�� bestselling author of�� You Have a Match
“Hand to fans of Netflix hit�� Never Have I Ever .�� �� Booklist]]> 384 Tashie Bhuiyan 1335010033 Brenda 0 to-read 4.06 2024
author: Tashie Bhuiyan
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry Brenda 4 I love you Emily Henry ]]> 4.21 2024
author: Emily Henry
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:
I restarted this twice just because I have terrible time management but I loved this! I loved the plot and it had me giggling and kicking my feet over it.
I love you Emily Henry
]]> 59708060
As their romance blossoms into something neither were anticipating, Daisy, Christian, and Julian each have to come to terms with the fact that in this life everything comes at a price. As their relationships intersect and tangle, they all learn that sometimes life’s most worthwhile pursuits can only be paid in blood.]]> 436 Jessa Hastings Brenda 3 It wasn’t even bad, I just couldn’t get into it. ]]> 4.09 2021
author: Jessa Hastings
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:
honestly I DNFd�� I loved magnolia parks but I could not for the life of me force myself to finish this book.
It wasn’t even bad, I just couldn’t get into it.
]]> 217896232 A modern comedy of manners about two mothers, the best-laid plans, and one very memorable wedding

Penelope and Chase make a lovely couple. She’s a bubbly Southern Californian with a killer work ethic. He is smart and charming, with political aspirations. They are planning a spectacular California wedding, wrapped in peonies and thousands of little white lights. Everyone is excited about it­­­­­­—except their mothers.

The mother of the bride, suave, Greek-born Alexa Diamandis, was a single mother by choice and does not understand why any woman would ever get married. The mother of the groom, Abigail Blakeman, is a garden-club stalwart firmly planted in coastal Connecticut. She thinks the whole enterprise would be so much easier if the wedding were at the golf club. When a sudden twist of fate calls them into action, these two very different women are forced to take over the wedding planning.]]> 400 Lian Dolan 0063441950 Brenda 0 to-read 4.35 2025
author: Lian Dolan
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213344055 A disillusioned tech executive goes into an obsessive spiral when her best friend—and longtime crush—is implicated in a woman’s death.

Edie Walker’s life is not going as planned. At thirty-five she feels stuck: in her career, in her love life, and in her tiny San Francisco studio apartment. It doesn’t help that her best friend, Peter Masterson, is basically the über successful male version of her—and she’s hopelessly, unrequitedly in love with him. But when Peter breaks up with his girlfriend of seven years, Edie thinks her life might finally be turning around. He’ll discover how toxic dating-app culture is and realize Edie has been right for him all along.

Except Peter almost immediately lands a date with Anaya Thomas, a gorgeous, whip-smart professor and writer of feminist literature whom even Edie—reared in the culture of tech bros—is smitten by. Unlike the women Peter has dated before, Anaya is like an alternative-reality version of Edie—one with shampoo-commercial hair and a meaningful career, who definitely doesn’t spend her weekends scrolling social media alone in her apartment. It’s only a matter of time before Peter falls head over heels for this woman; Edie herself is infatuated after one meeting.

Then Anaya is found dead in her apartment—right after a date with Peter.]]> 272 Emily J. Smith 006338583X Brenda 0 to-read 3.29 2025
author: Emily J. Smith
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.29
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214200759 Welcome to Black Card Black—where all your desires come true and customer satisfaction is our personal guarantee.
One night.
Three men.
Get passed around, then pass it along.]]> 112 J.D. Midnight Brenda 3 4.04
author: J.D. Midnight
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 216405550 From #1��New York Times��bestselling author Alex Aster comes her adult debut novel��Summer in the City—a swoony, fast-paced rom-com set in New York City in which a screenwriter and a sexy tech CEO go from lovers to enemies and back to lovers again��

Twenty-seven-year-old screenwriter Elle has the chance of a lifetime to write a big-budget movie set in New York City. The only problem? She’s had writer’s block for months, and her screenplay is due at the end of the summer.��

In a desperate attempt at inspiration, Elle ends up back in the city she swore she would never return to, in an apartment she could never afford (floor-to-ceiling windows, skyline views, and a new coffee shop to haunt included). It’s the perfect place to write her screenplay…until she realizes her new neighbor is tech “Billionaire Bachelor�� Parker Warren, her stairwell hookup from two years ago. It’s been a lovers-to-enemies situation ever since.��

When seeing him again turns into a full night of hate-fueled writing, Elle realizes her enemy/twisted muse might just be the key to finishing her screenplay... if she can stand being around her polar opposite. She writes anonymously, and he’s on the cover of every business magazine. He frequents fancy red carpeted events, and she doesn’t like leaving her emotional support five block radius.��

One summer. One wall apart. He needs to fake a buzzy relationship during his company’s precarious acquisition. She needs to write a movie around a list of NYC locations. Both need a break from their unrelenting schedules, and a chance to rediscover the skyscraper glimmering, pizza crusted, sunlit charms of the city.����

Summers always end, and so will this agreement. It’s all pretend. Promise.��

Until it isn’t.]]> 304 Alex Aster 0063411660 Brenda 4 I was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time. I loved this book!!! the tension and bickering between Elle and Parker ]]> 3.81 2025
author: Alex Aster
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
review:
this was a 5 star read up until the last few chapters honestly.
I was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time. I loved this book!!! the tension and bickering between Elle and Parker
]]> 42201431
Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781501128035.]]> 432 Christina Lauren 1501128035 Brenda 5 3.88 2019
author: Christina Lauren
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves:
review:
idc idc idc I loved this book
]]> 199374143
Dr Suzanne Goh is a renowned paediatric neurologist who has spent decades working with autistic children. In this ground-breaking book, Goh combines her extensive experience with original research to give you a clear understanding of what autism is and how to create a holistic treatment roadmap for your child.

Based on Goh’s revolutionary ‘whole child approach,�� you’ll discover how

- Best support every aspect of your child’s health
- Get the help you need and build a strong and supportive team
- Make informed decisions based on a deep understanding of your child’s brain and body

Most importantly, Magnificent Minds will show you how to recognise and nurture your child’s innate strengths �� their intelligence, abilities, and gifts �� and celebrate their neurodiverse magnificence.]]> 331 Dr Suzanne Goh 1529931649 Brenda 4 3.00
author: Dr Suzanne Goh
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 144707422
Sloane Hart is a hopeless romantic who always believed her great love story was out there, until her parents�� divorce shattered that dream. She swears off dating and is determined to graduate college, become a writer and move to New York City. Until she meets Ethan. Ethan Brady is guarded and mysterious, unwilling to talk about his past or let anyone get too close.

As they start dating without labels, they both know it ������’t last forever. Sloane imagines a future with Ethan but he ������’t give her the commitment she needs. Will she be able to convince Ethan to take a chance on it? Or will she have to learn the hard way that some things just aren’t meant to be?

Sloane and Ethan’s story is a bittersweet tale of love and self-discovery that explores the complexities of relationships and the challenges of moving on.]]> 257 Alissa DeRogatis Brenda 5 It’s definitely been a while since I read a book in one sitting but this book had me hooked from the beginning.
I get the hate this book gets, it’s frustrating but either you get sloane or you don’t ]]> 3.36 2023
author: Alissa DeRogatis
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves:
review:
Finally my first 5 star read of the year and of course it’s a book about a situationship!!!!
It’s definitely been a while since I read a book in one sitting but this book had me hooked from the beginning.
I get the hate this book gets, it’s frustrating but either you get sloane or you don’t
]]> 33361549
Will Logan choose them? Or will we watch them burn together?

It's time to fuck with their minds.
It's time to finish it all.
It's time to paint it all red...

Monsters don't usually wish for happily-ever-afters.]]> 177 S.T. Abby Brenda 4 ]]> 4.56 2016
author: S.T. Abby
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves:
review:
Finished this series during my flight back home from nyc. Pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this book

]]> 33361546
But that's never happened to me...

I've never felt conflicted on any case. Right is right and wrong is wrong. It's simple. Black and white. There's no such thing as a gray area.

But fuck this case. I don't even know what side I'm on anymore. I don't understand how this town can continue to function without breaking under the weight of all the lies they've spun and lived.

Every time I find a shard of truth, my gut twists, my heart beats faster, and I hate this place a little more. Every time I think I've heard the worst, another truth is dug up from the ashes of more burning lies.

Worst of all, I don't even know who to trust anymore. My head is all messed up.

I pride myself on being impossible to fool.
I'm an expert at knowing when someone is lying to me.
I never believed in being blinded by love...until Lana.

**BE WARNED: Some flashbacks can get intense to readers with a sensitive trigger. Skip the blocks in italics if that's the case.]]> 141 S.T. Abby Brenda 4 4.52 2016
author: S.T. Abby
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 33304878
Logan Bennett makes me want to have a future not tainted by the constant hunger for revenge. Doesn't mean I can stop. Doesn't mean I want to stop. It just means I want more...one day.

But how do you make a good man love the monster inside you without stripping his soul away as well? He is all the best parts of me right now, resurrecting bits of my heart I forgot could even exist.

He makes me feel something other than cold.

He also thinks I'm weak and fragile. Something I laugh about to myself, while secretly soaking in all his protectiveness and concern.

If anyone touches him, harms him, or even threatens him, then they should probably run. Because his girlfriend is a little bit crazy. They just don't know it yet.]]> 139 S.T. Abby Brenda 4 4.40 2016
author: S.T. Abby
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 33271162 Or at least I was...until her.

****
LOGAN

I've had tunnel vision for one main goal for so long, that I forgot there was a whole other world just outside. Until Lana.

She's everything I never expected, and I love the fact I can never guess her every move or reaction. It's part of the reason I keep falling. But I also know she shuts me out, hides things from me she feels she can't share.

One day, I hope she trusts me enough to share.

It isn't until my job puts her at risk that I realize just how fierce she is, but it doesn't stop me from doing all I can to protect her. I should walk away to protect her better, but I can't. Instead, I'm forced to find other ways to keep her safe.

I just hope it's enough.

Though she is fierce, she's still fragile...

Right?]]> 115 S.T. Abby Brenda 4 Addicted!!!! ]]> 4.37 2016
author: S.T. Abby
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves:
review:
Brb running to book 3
Addicted!!!!
]]> 33131867 Left too little.
I had nothing to lose...until him.

**

~Lana~

I didn't expect him.
I didn't want to fall in love.
But I can't let him go.

Logan Bennett makes the world a safer place.
He's brilliant.
He's a hero.
He locks away the sick and depraved.
But while he's saving lives, I'm taking them. Collecting the debts that are owed to me.

Ten years ago, they took from me. They left me for dead.
They should have made sure I stayed dead.

Now I'm taking from them.
One name at a time.

I've trained for too long.
I've been patient.
I can't stop now.

Revenge is best served cold...

They never see me coming, until I paint their walls red.

Logan doesn't know how they hurt me. He doesn't know about the screams they ignored. He doesn't know how twisted that town really is.

He just knows people are dying.
He doesn't know he's in love with their killer.

No one suspects a dead girl.
And Logan doesn't suspect the girl in his bed.

They're looking for a monster.
Not a girl who loves red.
Not a girl in love.

I'm a faceless nightmare.

At least until I tell them the story they've pretended never happened.

But in the end, will Logan choose them? Or will we watch them burn together?

**Graphic
**Adult language
**Some triggers could be too much for the easily disturbed reader
**Sexual content
**Fucked up moral compass; read at your own risk.]]> 132 S.T. Abby Brenda 4 4.21 2016
author: S.T. Abby
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves:
review:
Not usually into murder books but ngl this book was good. Shout out TikTok for the rec
]]> 58527403 423 Jessa Hastings 1737281198 Brenda 4 Debating on 4/5 stars. I know people talk a lot of shit about this book but i honestly ate it up. I’m sorry ]]> 3.68 2021
author: Jessa Hastings
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves:
review:
4.5 ⭐️
Debating on 4/5 stars. I know people talk a lot of shit about this book but i honestly ate it up. I’m sorry
]]> 199070596 Julian
If I ever caught on fire, Dahlia Muñoz would fan the flames with a smile.
So, when she returns to Lake Wisteria, I fully intend to avoid the interior designer.
At least until my meddling mother exploits my savior complex.
The faster I help Dahlia find her creative spark, the sooner she will leave town.
But while I was busy getting rid of Dahlia, I overlooked one potential issue.
What happens if I want her to stay?

Dahlia
People say the devil has many faces, but I know only one.
Julian Lopez—my childhood rival and family frenemy.
I vow to steer clear of him while recovering from my broken engagement, but then the billionaire makes an irresistible offer.
Renovate a historic house together and triple our profits.
Our temporary truce becomes compromised as we face years�� worth of denied attraction and mixed emotions.
Giving into our desire is inevitable…but falling in love?
That isn’t part of the plan.

Love Redesigned is a steamy, small town romance about two family friends-turned-childhood rivals. It is the first book in the standalone Lakefront Billionaires series and has a happy ending.]]> 530 Lauren Asher Brenda 2 DNFd at like 60% 4.00 2023
author: Lauren Asher
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/24
date added: 2024/03/24
shelves:
review:
DNFd at like 60%
]]> 199335111
I’m a single dad and starting pitcher for Chicago’s MLB team.
I’m stretched too thin, but I don’t want help raising my son.

Each of his previous nannies only lasted a few weeks before I let them go.
Now, my coach is putting his foot down by hiring the one person I ������’t fire—his daughter.

Miller Montgomery is the last woman I should fall for. Too wild, too young, and too unattached.

Chicago is just a quick stop for her. I thought I’d be counting down the days until she left, but summer feels too short when I start thinking about forever.


Miller

As a high-end pastry chef who recently won the most prestigious award in my industry, I’m desperate to prove I deserve it. But with a new title comes new pressure, and I ������’t create a fresh and inspiring dessert to save my life.

With only two months to get back on track, I should be focusing in the kitchen, but instead, I let my dad talk me into using my time off to nanny for his star player’s kid.

Kai Rhodes forgot how to have fun, and I’m eager to jog his memory. But when he and his son start to feel like home, I have to remind us both that my time in Chicago ends with the summer.

Besides, I’ve always been a runner, and the last thing I want is to get caught.]]> 408 Liz Tomforde 139972858X Brenda 4 4.37 2023
author: Liz Tomforde
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/19
date added: 2024/03/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 171498175 Underneath the goody two-shoes persona is damaged goods…but can the bad boy across the street save her?

Bailey Followhill is the perfect daughter. Sweet. Charitable. Pretty. Control freak. Not a hair out of place, not an inch out of line, she is everything her troublemaking sister Daria isn't. But when her A game turns out to be a lukewarm C- at Juilliard, Bailey's picture-ready life starts fraying faster than the worn satin ribbons of her pointe shoes. She's becoming a piece of gossip. The Troubled Child. A drug abuser. No longer the girl her best friend once knew.

Lev Cole is so golden, he's got the Midas Touch. Prized quarterback. Football captain. Hottest guy in SoCal. A textbook cliché. But with a girlfriend he doesn't love and a career path he doesn't value, Lev is coasting.
The only two things he cares about, Bailey and becoming a pilot, are out of reach.

But Lev is done being satisfied with the life others have chosen for him. He wants to pick his own cards. To demolish the seamless kingdom of lies his family stitched together on the ruins his mother left behind.

The question is, can he save his best friend and his dream before too much damage is done?]]> 418 L.J. Shen Brenda 4 3.99 2024
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/23
date added: 2024/01/23
shelves:
review:
shout out to Bloom Books for always sending me ARCs
]]> 54416149 A YA contemporary rom com about a girl who follows a trail of paper hearts from her mystery admirer--and it's a paperback original perfect for fans of To All the Boys I've Loved Before and the Kissing Booth.

Ella's life was picture perfect. She had a circle of close friends, a jam-packed social life, and an amazing boyfriend. But then something completely unexpected happened: a car accident after a Valentine's Day dance. When Ella woke up in the hospital, she couldn't remember the accident . . . or anything about the weeks before it, including the reason she broke up with her boyfriend.

Now, a year later, she begins receiving paper hearts from a mysterious admirer who seems to have the answers she craves. Ella is intrigued. The hearts contain clues to help Ella remember her life before . . . and take her on a journey she never imagined. Following the paper hearts is the most spontaneous thing Ella has ever done . . . but will she find love?

Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.]]> 320 Kelsey Hartwell 0593180070 Brenda 4 This would be perfect for a younger audience, I’m sure I would’ve completely fell in love with this book at 14/15
I loved the writing style and it reminded me of All the boys I’ve loved and Before I fall. I loved the characters, especially Ashley, I loved seeing the sibling relationship between them.

After Ella’s accident she ������’t seem to remember 11 weeks before her accident. As Valentine’s Day approaches, she begins to get paper hearts with clues to help her remember those 11 forgotten weeks. The hearts take her on adventures which she used to love to do before

* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review]]> 3.97 2021
author: Kelsey Hartwell
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/07
date added: 2024/01/18
shelves:
review:
This was such a quick read! It was sweet like candy and perfect for Valentine’s Day, the only reason I rated it 4 stars instead of 5 is because it was a little hard to relate to which is completely fine! I wasn’t the targeted audience but I still really enjoyed it.
This would be perfect for a younger audience, I’m sure I would’ve completely fell in love with this book at 14/15
I loved the writing style and it reminded me of All the boys I’ve loved and Before I fall. I loved the characters, especially Ashley, I loved seeing the sibling relationship between them.

After Ella’s accident she ������’t seem to remember 11 weeks before her accident. As Valentine’s Day approaches, she begins to get paper hearts with clues to help her remember those 11 forgotten weeks. The hearts take her on adventures which she used to love to do before

* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
]]> 41057294
A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.]]> 273 Sally Rooney 1984822179 Brenda 5 favorites I kept debating on reading this for the longest time because of all the mixed reviews but I caved and I’m so glad I did

I’m gonna firstly say, this book may not be for everyone. I’m not even sure if I liked the writing style but I genuinely loved the book the more I continued to read it. It goes back and forth from timelines and goes through small time jumps and I kept getting confused at some points and it is in 3rd pov (which I’m not the biggest fan of)
I wanna call the book weird but I know that’s the whole point of it lol
If I keep thinking about this book I might change it to a 5 star but for now it’s staying at a 4

ANYWAYS
“I’M NOT A RELIGIOUS PERSON BUT I DO SOMETIMES THINK GOD MADE YOU FOR ME�� ❤️‍]]> 3.81 2018
author: Sally Rooney
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/03/10
date added: 2024/01/16
shelves: favorites
review:
Super quick read!! I could’ve read it in one sitting if I didn’t have to wake up early the next day.
I kept debating on reading this for the longest time because of all the mixed reviews but I caved and I’m so glad I did

I’m gonna firstly say, this book may not be for everyone. I’m not even sure if I liked the writing style but I genuinely loved the book the more I continued to read it. It goes back and forth from timelines and goes through small time jumps and I kept getting confused at some points and it is in 3rd pov (which I’m not the biggest fan of)
I wanna call the book weird but I know that’s the whole point of it lol
If I keep thinking about this book I might change it to a 5 star but for now it’s staying at a 4

ANYWAYS
“I’M NOT A RELIGIOUS PERSON BUT I DO SOMETIMES THINK GOD MADE YOU FOR ME�� ❤️��
]]> 60126555 Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the 'Battle-Axe' anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.]]> 369 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1529152127 Brenda 5 favorites 4.32 2022
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/11
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves: favorites
review:
This book left me with such a book hangover
]]> 54698696 Two people. Infinite lifetimes. One impossible choice.

Thora and Santi are strangers in a foreign city when a chance encounter intertwines their fates. At once, they recognize in each other a kindred spirit—someone who shares their insatiable curiosity, who is longing for more in life than the cards they’ve been dealt. Only days later, though, a tragic accident cuts their story short.

But this is only one of the many connections they share. Like satellites trapped in orbit around each other, Thora and Santi are destined to meet again: as a teacher and prodigy student; a caretaker and dying patient; a cynic and a believer. In numerous lives they become friends, colleagues, lovers, and enemies. But as blurred memories and strange patterns compound, Thora and Santi come to a shocking revelation—they must discover the truth of their mysterious attachment before their many lives come to one, final end.]]> 320 Catriona Silvey 0063020203 Brenda 5 favorites Emotional, unique, and captivating.
Thora and Santi will hold a special place in my heart ]]> 3.71 2021
author: Catriona Silvey
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/28
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves: favorites
review:
Absolutely adored this book
Emotional, unique, and captivating.
Thora and Santi will hold a special place in my heart
]]> 61718053
They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They ������’t stand to break their friends�� hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week�� in front of those who know you best?

A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.]]> 400 Emily Henry 0593441273 Brenda 5 favorites Review to be completed 3.95 2023
author: Emily Henry
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/07
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves: favorites
review:
Review to be completed
]]> 46249012 From #1�� New York Times ��bestselling author Kathryn Purdie comes a high-stakes fantasy duology flush with doomed romance and macabre magic, perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber and Roshani Chokshi.

Bone Criers are the last descendants of an ancient famille charged with using the magic they draw from animal bones to shepherd the dead into the afterlife—lest they drain the light from the living.


Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become their matriarch, but first she must complete her rite of passage: to kill the boy she’s destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Now his vengeance must wait, as Ailesse’s ritual has begun and their fates are entwined—in life and in death.]]> 480 Kathryn Purdie 0062798774 Brenda 0 to-read 3.63 2020
author: Kathryn Purdie
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 41150487
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?]]> 448 Casey McQuiston 1250316774 Brenda 5 4.06 2019
author: Casey McQuiston
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/15
date added: 2024/01/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 175399560 New York Times bestselling author Elle Kennedy brings her signature angst, drama, and humour to a new standalone romance.

When nineteen-year-old Abbey Bly gets the opportunity to study abroad for a year in London, it's the perfect chance to finally slip out from under the thumb of her beloved but overbearing retired rock star father. She's ready to be free, to discover herself - but first off, to meet the girls she's rooming with. That is, until she arrives at her gorgeous new flat to discover those roommates are actually all boys. Charming, funny, insufferably attractive boys. And off-limits, with a rule against fraternizing between housemates after unwanted drama with the previous girl.

Abbey has never considered herself a rulebreaker. But soon, she's lying to her father about her living situation and falling for not one, but two men she can't have: her rugby-player roommate and a broody musician with a girlfriend. Not to mention, her research for school has gotten her tangled in a deeply hidden scandal of a high nobility family, surrounding her in secrets on all sides.

If there's any hope of Abbey finding love, answers, or a future in London, she'll have to decide which rules - and hearts - might be worth breaking . . .]]> 432 Elle Kennedy 1728299799 Brenda 0 to-read 3.59 2024
author: Elle Kennedy
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 101145064 Murder by Degrees is a historical mystery set in 19th century Philadelphia, following a pioneering woman doctor as she investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead.

Philadelphia, 1875: It is the start of term at Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lydia Weston, professor and anatomist, is immersed in teaching her students in the lecture hall and hospital. When the body of a patient, Anna Ward, is dredged out of the Schuylkill River, the young chambermaid’s death is deemed a suicide. But Lydia is suspicious and she is soon brought into the police investigation.

Aided by a diary filled with cryptic passages of poetry, Lydia discovers more about the young woman she thought she knew. Through her skill at the autopsy table and her clinical acumen, Lydia draws nearer the truth. Soon a terrible secret, long hidden, will be revealed. But Lydia must act quickly, before she becomes the next target of those who wished to silence Anna.]]> 304 Ritu Mukerji 1668015064 Brenda 3 I’m not really into mystery books so I had to force myself to get into it ]]> 3.58 2023
author: Ritu Mukerji
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/11
date added: 2024/01/11
shelves:
review:
Binged listened to the audiobook for book club (I have terrible time management skills)
I’m not really into mystery books so I had to force myself to get into it
]]> 44313592 It starts with a dream...��
Employing tools like lucid dreaming and tarot reading to set the stage, Mateer approaches myth here through a witchcraft-inspired lens, not a traditionalist textbook view; and like many poets before her, she allows herself the room to reinterpret. Part mythology retelling, part healing manifesto, this empowering and feminist collection tackles the timeless topic of love--romantic, platonic, and self-love--while also exploring various pieces of myth from Aphrodite's perspective.��
"In Troy they fought over Helen like children�� but Achilles mourned Patroclus the way a soul mourns a body."��
Using the framework of a conversation, with sections alternating between the perspective of the poet and the goddess herself, Mateer explores issues heartbreak, sexuality, trauma, and the restorative power in taking control of your own lore, speaking your truths, and rewriting your origin story.����
"Like everyone called a woman, they say I had no childhood. They say I rose from the sea fully formed, forced to bear the weight of other people's desire. It's not the truth, but it's close enough."��
Similar to the witch doesn't burn in this one by amanda lovelace and You'll Come Back to Yourself by Michaela Angemeer, this collection of short powerful poems from Instagram and TikTok poet Trista Mateer will have you believing in the possibility of your own healing.��]]> 192 Trista Mateer 1771681748 Brenda 5 I loved this 4.07 2019
author: Trista Mateer
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/30
date added: 2024/01/10
shelves:
review:
I loved this
]]> 123255391
Ryder is six-foot five, built, opinionated, rude…and sexy as hell. But he's still the enemy.

Briar's new hockey co-captain has his reasons, though. The men's team just merged with a rival program, leaving Ryder with an angry roster where everyone hates one another's guts. To make matters worse, the summer coaching spot he's angling for with the legendary Garrett Graham is out of reach after he makes the worst possible first impression on his hero. So, really, this compromise with Gigi is win-win. He helps her make the national team, she puts in a good word with her dad.

The only potential snag? This bone-deep, body-numbing, mind-spinning chemistry they're trying to ignore. It's a dangerous game they're playing, but the risks just might be worth it.

Et pourtant, il y a un gros hic ! L'alchimie profonde, qui étouffe le corps et fait tourner l'esprit, qu'ils essaient d'ignorer. C'est un jeu dangereux auquel ils jouent, mais les risques pourraient bien en valoir la peine.]]> 498 Elle Kennedy 1990101186 Brenda 4 last read of 2023 4.18 2023
author: Elle Kennedy
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/31
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
review:
last read of 2023
]]> 200524443 I planned to attend a fun yearly Halloween party with my boyfriend and best friend.
I wore the costume that he asked me to wear.
And when I ran into my boyfriend in the bathroom, he fucked me into oblivion.
Only, it wasn’t him.
It was my stalker.
A man from my past determined to make me pay.

Killian Carter
I spent years tracking Aster Osbourne down.
Then, I found her. I stalked her.
Attending college and pretending she wasn’t a murderer.
I followed her closely, intent on killing her once and for all.
Except, when we’re face-to-masked-face, I fuck her instead.
She’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt.
I’d kill for her, but only after I’ve gotten revenge.

Trigger Warning
This book is a DARK romance suitable for readers 18+. This book may contain content that is triggering to some individuals, such knife play, murder, gore, violence, breath play, blood play, force, stalking, and more.
You've been warned.]]> 96 Ashley Reyes Brenda 3 3.58
author: Ashley Reyes
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.58
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/27
date added: 2023/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 62192509
������How It Feels to Find Yourself pairs vibrant color palettes with thoughtful observations and guidance for navigating the most important relationship in our the one we have with ourselves.
��������Through illustrated charts, honest essays, and insightful questions for deeper reflection, Meera Lee Patel encourages us to sharpen our internal compasses—so we can discover our purpose, let go of what we’ve outgrown, and navigate challenging relationships with confidence.
������ How It Feels to Find Yourself provides comfort for the difficult moments in life while serving as a source for deeper learning. It is a valuable gift for anyone who is facing uncertainty or entering a new chapter in life. Each page creates nostalgia for the places and experiences we’ve already encountered, while shining a hopeful light toward where we are headed next.]]> 176 Meera Lee Patel 0593418735 Brenda 4 3.91 2023
author: Meera Lee Patel
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/23
date added: 2023/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 101145836
Maple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand. Never one to overstay her welcome (or expect much from a man), Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask for her full name.

Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp where they are both counselors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working. Russ hopes if he gets far enough away from Maple Hills, he can avoid dealing with the repercussions of his father’s gambling addiction, while Aurora is tired of craving attention from everyone around her, and wants to go back to the last place she truly felt at home.

Russ knows breaking the camp’s strict “no staff fraternizing�� rule will have him heading back to Maple Hills before the summer is over, but unfortunately for him, Aurora has never been very good at caring about the rules. Will the two learn to peacefully coexist? Or did their one night together start a fire they ������’t put out?]]> 387 Hannah Grace 1668026279 Brenda 4 3.82 2023
author: Hannah Grace
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/23
date added: 2023/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 40680983
**I know you don’t want to talk sometimes. Sometimes because it hurts and sometimes because you’re just not supposed to talk about what you want to talk about. Sometimes it can be hard to say, “this is beautiful,�� when no one else can see what you see. Or, “Here, this is where the pain is.”��

But some part of you knows, the truth about the words you cannot say is that they only hurt until you say them. They only hurt until the person who needs to hear them, hears them.�� Because we are human, and the closest we’ve ever come to showing each other who we really are, and how we love, is with words.

So I’m going to try to say to you here, what I wish you’d say to me too. Please.
Listen. We can change things.
��
Here.]]> 232 Iain S. Thomas 1449495206 Brenda 4 3.99
author: Iain S. Thomas
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.99
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/16
date added: 2023/10/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 46041465
When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming an adult, journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all. In her memoir, she vividly recounts falling in love, finding a job, getting drunk, getting dumped, realizing that Ivan from the corner shop might just be the only reliable man in her life, and that absolutely no one can ever compare to her best girlfriends. Everything I Know About Love is about bad dates, good friends and—above all else�� realizing that you are enough.

Glittering with wit and insight, heart and humor, Dolly Alderton’s unforgettable debut weaves together personal stories, satirical observations, a series of lists, recipes, and other vignettes that will strike a chord of recognition with women of every age—making you want to pick up the phone and tell your best friends all about it. Like Bridget Jones�� Diary but all true, Everything I Know About Love is about the struggles of early adulthood in all its terrifying and hopeful uncertainty.]]> 368 Dolly Alderton 0062968785 Brenda 4 3.98 2018
author: Dolly Alderton
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/14
date added: 2023/10/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 198647119
Halle may not have the romantic pursuits of her favorite fictional leads, but she’s an academic superstar, and when she hears about Henry’s problems with his class reading material, she offers to help. But being a private tutor isn’t exactly ideal given her own studies, job and the novel she’s trying to write. New experiences are the key to beating her writer’s block, though, and Henry’s promising to be the one to give them to her.

They just need to stick to their rulebook. Oh, and not fall in love.

18+ content]]> 448 Hannah Grace Brenda 0 to-read 3.98 2024
author: Hannah Grace
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 10798416
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.]]> 236 Jennifer E. Smith 0316122386 Brenda 0 to-read 3.76 2012
author: Jennifer E. Smith
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 111949120 165 Celia Martinez Brenda 5 4.46
author: Celia Martinez
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/16
date added: 2023/09/16
shelves:
review:
As a hopeless romantic, these poems spoke to my soul
]]> 58014893
Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.

When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.

Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.]]> 320 Carley Fortune 0593438531 Brenda 4 4.17 2022
author: Carley Fortune
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/27
date added: 2023/08/27
shelves:
review:
Felt like love and other words plus the cheating trope and that’s the reason it didn’t get 5 stars
]]> 123205520 I was hellbent on making them pay. Instead, they bent and twisted me.

I am the golden child, the one who’s supposed to be perfect.
During the day I attend Spine Ridge University as my father wishes, but when darkness falls I put on my mask to hunt criminals and destroy them.

Until one night when I come face to face with three evil boys ��
Kai, Nathan, and Milo from the Phantom Society. Secretive, violent, dirty guys who promise to expose my vigilante justice and put my dangerous side-job in the limelight.

They’ll show the world how savage I truly am �� unless I let them have their way with me.
My body bartered for their silence �� And I say yes.

They’re shameless in claiming me, not even my dignity is spared.
With their devious games they make me question my sanity.
Worst of all �� I’m beginning to love every inch of their corruption.

Until it’s no longer just bodies against bodies, but four hearts beating in sync.
But if I’m really going to go down this path to hell ��
I’m taking those devils with me.]]> 510 Clarissa Wild Brenda 3 3.83 2023
author: Clarissa Wild
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/26
date added: 2023/08/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 40603774
Then Charlotte collides with Adam, a gorgeous and soulful painter who seems just as lost as she feels. Their instant connection turns into a midnight drink�� and a whirlwind night of champagne, Chinese food, and the kind of conversation that only happens in romantic comedies. But the next morning, Adam gives Charlotte the cold shoulder, leaving her confused and hurt—and wondering if the few odd moments between them the night before were red flags in disguise.

Months later, Charlotte hasn’t been able to shake Adam, so she decides to find out what happened the morning after their magical night together. This fateful decision rewrites their wild love story, but what Charlotte doesn’t know yet is that the ending has already been written.]]> 320 Renee Carlino Brenda 0 to-read 3.90 2017
author: Renee Carlino
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 23492533
Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.

That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby�� must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.

The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,�� but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?]]> 303 Renee Carlino 1501105795 Brenda 5 I loved this book so much
Heartbreakingly beautiful ]]> 4.09 2016
author: Renee Carlino
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/23
date added: 2023/07/23
shelves:
review:
I think Renée Carlino is slowly becoming one of my new favorite authors.
I loved this book so much
Heartbreakingly beautiful
]]> 60066320 Memories and broken promises


They said that some people never get to meet their soulmates.
I met mine when I was five.

Noah Kincaid was my best friend, my person, a shoulder to cry on—until he wasn’t.
Until he shattered my heart into a million tiny pieces with just a few words.

But now he’s back, saying all the right words, doing all the right things, but it was too late.
He was too late for our happily ever after, because life had other plans.

Tragedies were never part of my plan—they weren’t on my bucket list. I always thought they happened to some other people, but never to me.
Until they did.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: HOW OUR HEARTS BREAK is a standalone, dark contemporary romance, with themes that might be too heavy for some readers. It contains explicit language and sexual content only suitable only for 18+. Please bear in mind that there's no guaranteed HEA. ]]> 274 L.K. Reid Brenda 3 3.5 <br />Wasn’t my fav 3.79
author: L.K. Reid
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.79
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/22
date added: 2023/07/22
shelves:
review:
3.5
Wasn’t my fav
]]> 36478784 Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met��

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…]]> 394 Beth O'Leary 1787474402 Brenda 3 3.97 2019
author: Beth O'Leary
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/13
date added: 2023/07/13
shelves:
review:
Thought I’d enjoy this book more :/
]]> 58065414 Then. Twentysomething writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing book deals, she's in the trenches writing puff pieces. Then she's hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker. The Gabe Parker--her forever celebrity crush, the object of her fantasies, the background photo on her phone--who's also just been cast as the new James Bond. It's terrifying and thrilling all at once... yet if she can keep her cool and nail the piece, it could be a huge win. Gabe will get good press, and her career will skyrocket. But what comes next proves to be life-changing in ways Chani never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing.

Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a heavy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles, laser-focused on one thing: her work. But she's still spent the better part of the last decade getting asked about her deeply personal Gabe Parker profile at every turn. No matter what new essay collection or viral editorial she's promoting, it always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she's forgotten about the time they spent together, years ago. But the truth is that those seventy-two hours are still crystal clear, etched in her memory. And so... he says yes.

Chani knows that facing Gabe again also means facing feelings she's tried so hard to push away. Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

A restless young journalist with big dreams interviews a Hollywood heartthrob--and, ten years later, it's clear that their time together meant more than meets the eye in this sexy, engrossing adult debut novel. ]]> 352 Elissa Sussman 0593357329 Brenda 0 to-read 3.55 2022
author: Elissa Sussman
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61420112 Then. Katee Rose is living the dream as America's number one pop star, caught in a whirlwind of sold-out concerts, screaming fans, and constant tabloid coverage. Everyone wants to know everything about her and her boyfriend, Ryan LaNeve, the hottest member of adored boy band CrushZone. Katee loves to perform but hates the impossible demands of stardom. Maybe that's why she finds herself in the arms of another CrushZone member, Cal Kirby. Quiet, serious Cal, who's always been a good friend to Katee, is suddenly Cal with the smoldering eyes and very good hands. One unforgettable night is all it takes to blow up Katee's relationship with Ryan, her career, her whole life...

Now. Kathleen Rosenberg is okay with her ordinary existence, and leaving her pop star image in the past. That is, until Cal Kirby shows up with the opportunity of her dreams--a starring role in the Broadway show he's directing and a chance to perform the way she's always wanted. The two haven't spoken since the joint destruction of their careers, and each of them blames the other, making their reunion a tense battle of wits and egos. Katee reluctantly agrees to the musical, as long as she keeps her guard up around Cal. But rehearsals are long, those eyes still smolder, and those hands are still very good. Despite everything, Katee can't deny the chemistry between them. Is it ever a good idea to reignite old flames? Especially if you've been burned in the past?

A former pop star finds herself back in the spotlight--along with an old flame from her past--in this "friends to lovers" meets "enemies to lovers" romance from the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask, the sensational Tik Tok romance!]]> 416 Elissa Sussman 059335737X Brenda 0 to-read 3.53 2023
author: Elissa Sussman
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40944965 His first, last, and only true love has always been rugby.
Until now.

He wants to save her.
She wants to hide.

She's damaged.
He's determined.

Fate brought them together.
Love binds them.

Johnny Kavanagh has everything going for him. On the rugby pitch, he's a force to be reckoned with. Primed for stardom, he's heading straight for the top. Nothing can possibly get in his way, right?
Not even the shy new girl at Tommen College. The one with the sad eyes and hidden bruises. The one that distracts him like no one ever has.
Plagued with a hidden injury and desperate to impress the scouts watching his every move, Johnny has been placed on a pedestal so high, he has no room to make mistakes.
Striving to maintain balance, and on the crest of the International Summer Campaign, Johnny needs to keep his head in the game. He needs to stay focused, and cannot afford to let distractions get in the way of the bigger picture.
But what happens when a lonely girl with sad eyes becomes the only picture?

Life has never been easy for Shannon Lynch. Bullied and tortured, she arrives at Tommen College mid-way through the school year praying for a fresh start and desperate to shake off the demons that plague her.
On her very first day at the prestigious private school, she comes into contact with the notorious Johnny Kavanagh.
Thrown through a hoop over her feelings for him, and desperate to keep a low-profile, Shannon finds herself once again the target of bullies as she forms a fragile alliance with rugby's rising star.

Falling into a complicated friendship and grappling with their undeniable chemistry, Johnny and Shannon must face obstacles that threaten their relationship.

Two teenagers from opposite sides of the tracks collide.

Friendship, first love, rising fame, horrifying secrets, and pain all fuel together in Binding 13.

Hearts are binding and lives are entwining in Binding 13.

Binding 13 is the explosive first installment of a brand-new series from Chloe Walsh. Based in Ireland, the Boys Of Tommen series is bound to captivate and lure you into the world of rugby, love, and teenage heartbreak.]]> 626 Chloe Walsh Brenda 1 DNFd at 20% 4.43 2018
author: Chloe Walsh
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at: 2023/07/05
date added: 2023/07/05
shelves:
review:
DNFd at 20%
]]> 128138997
A perfectionist maid of honor and a carefree, surfer-bro best man team up to plan a wedding and end up finding a spark of their own in the first audio original from author duo Christina Lauren, a full-cast sequel to their��New York Times��bestseller��The Unhoneymooners.

Ami is determined to break the Torres family wedding curse. Her own disaster of a reception ended with all the guests getting food poisoning, and she left her cheating husband soon after. But even though she’s still processing her own divorce, Ami won’t let her twin sister Olive’s day be anything but perfect. Olive may think she wants a private ceremony in Maui, where she and her fiancé Ethan first fell in love, but Ami knows better and secretly flies the whole Torres family out to surprise the couple. Now she and her meticulously organized binder have less than two weeks to get everything together for the big day, thousands of miles from home.

Enter Brody, Ethan’s best man, who happens to be living in Maui and insists on helping with the preparations. His playfully elaborate schemes and happy-go-lucky attitude are the last thing Ami needs. When sparks start to fly, could it derail all her carefully laid plans?

Equal parts hilarious and swoon-worthy, this full-cast production is your ticket to the ultimate destination wedding, bringing to life both a captivating couple and an unforgettable family.��The Honeymoon Crashers��is Christina Lauren at their charming, hilarious best.]]> 5 Christina Lauren 1797158147 Brenda 0 to-read 3.56 2023
author: Christina Lauren
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123194683 124 Emily Rath Brenda 3 3.98
author: Emily Rath
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/04
date added: 2023/06/04
shelves:
review:
I really wanted to give this 4 stars but the “dragon Rachel�� was way too cringy
]]> 61918816 A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match.

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin��-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass�� scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,�� and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she ������’t refuse.]]> 416 Abby Jimenez 1538704390 Brenda 5 4.5 <br />I loved this 4.29 2023
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/31
date added: 2023/05/31
shelves:
review:
4.5
I loved this
]]> 194929 In this powerful and controversial book, distinguished African-American political leader and thinker Randall Robinson argues for the restoration of the rich history that slavery and segregation severed. Drawing from research and personal experience, he shows that only by reclaiming their lost past and proud heritage can blacks lay the foundation for their future. And white Americans can begin making reparations for slavery and the century of racial discrimination that followed with monetary restitution, educational programs, and the kinds of equal opportunities that will ensure the social and economic success of all citizens.

“Engaging...Robinson continues an important conversation...His anecdotes support his attempts to reclaim African American heritage and empower African Americans.”�� The Washington Post]]> 272 Randall Robinson 0452282101 Brenda 4 Very eye opening, truly recommend ]]> 4.15 2000
author: Randall Robinson
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/28
date added: 2023/05/28
shelves:
review:
Read this for class and found myself loving it.
Very eye opening, truly recommend
]]> 58925247
For years, I’ve dreamt of what college life could bring and while some things changed, there was always one constant.
It didn’t matter how wild I allowed my imagination to run, it always led me to the same place in the end.

It led me to him.
My future was clear, and he was it.


Until suddenly ... he wasn’t.


Now I’m a shell of who I was, on a path too blurry to follow, and I see no way out.
No way up.


They say first loves last forever.
That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.]]> 681 Meagan Brandy Brenda 2 Ngl I kinda hated this book
I really wanted to love it like TikTok said I would but maybe I should stop trusting booktok so much
This book DRAGGED on, it literally could’ve been a quarter of the book
The cringy dialogue didn’t make it any better, every time arianna and Cameron opened their mouth I cringed, every time Noah called arianna “Juliet�� I cringed
This is like those cringy Wattpad books and it felt like a middle schooler wrote it ]]> 4.19 2022
author: Meagan Brandy
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2023/05/28
date added: 2023/05/28
shelves:
review:
2.5 stars? Idk
Ngl I kinda hated this book
I really wanted to love it like TikTok said I would but maybe I should stop trusting booktok so much
This book DRAGGED on, it literally could’ve been a quarter of the book
The cringy dialogue didn’t make it any better, every time arianna and Cameron opened their mouth I cringed, every time Noah called arianna “Juliet�� I cringed
This is like those cringy Wattpad books and it felt like a middle schooler wrote it
]]> 51704136 Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned--from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren--an enigmatic artist and single mother--who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood--and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, ŷ������, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and many more...

Perfect for book clubs! Visit celesteng.com for discussion guides and more. ]]> 368 Celeste Ng 0143135163 Brenda 0 to-read 4.06 2017
author: Celeste Ng
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61767292
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 ������’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 Brenda 4 I loved this book.
Was not expecting some of the scenes lol jaw dropping moments from shock
Need me a Nathan Hawkins @ universe

I loved Stassie’s friendships with the hockey team ]]> 3.75 2022
author: Hannah Grace
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/10
date added: 2023/05/10
shelves:
review:
4.5 ⭐️
I loved this book.
Was not expecting some of the scenes lol jaw dropping moments from shock
Need me a Nathan Hawkins @ universe

I loved Stassie’s friendships with the hockey team
]]> 52017136
My father left.��

My twin sister died of an incurable autoimmune disease.��

My mother started breaking down.��

Then I was diagnosed with the very thing that took my other half from me.��

That was when I realized Mama’s eyes turned gold when she cried.��

So I moved in with my father and his new family—new wife, new son, new stepbrother.��

Kaiden Monroe made me feel normal.��

Hated. Cared for. Loathed. And �� loved.��

Somewhere along the way, I’d found solace in the boy with brooding eyes.��

But everything happens in stages.��

And nothing good ever lasts.⁣]]> 414 B. Celeste Brenda 3 It was still a good book though ]]> 4.22 2019
author: B. Celeste
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/10
date added: 2023/05/07
shelves:
review:
Thought this book was going to make me cry like Full Tilt and A Thousand Boy Kisses��. To my disappointment it didn’t. I didn’t even shed a tear. Was really hoping this book would break my heart like everyone said it would but it was just missing something. I didn’t get attached to Emery like I thought I would.
It was still a good book though
]]> 84943172
She’s a distraction, that’s what she is.

I’m the newest Captain of the Devils, Chicago’s NBA team, and the last thing I needed this year was for Indy Ivers, my sister’s best friend, to move into my apartment. She’s messy, emotional, and way too tempting.

But when the team’s General Manager vocalizes his blatant disapproval of my promotion to Captain, referring to me as an unapproachable lone wolf with no work-life balance, I ������’t think of a better way to convince him otherwise than pretending to date my outgoing roommate.

The only problem? Faking it feels far too natural.

Having a fake girlfriend wasn’t supposed to be messy but having Indy under my roof and in my bed is complicated, especially when she wants all the romantic parts of life that I could never give her.


INDY

I never imagined I’d be living with my best friend’s brother, NBA superstar Ryan Shay. Even more unbelievable? He needs me to act as his loving girlfriend who’s suddenly changed him into a friendly and approachable guy.

Because, well…he’s not. He’s controlling of his space and untrusting of others.

Our arrangement isn’t one-sided, though. I’m in a wedding coming up, one where every one of my childhood friends, including my ex-boyfriend, will be in attendance, and there’s no better date than my ex’s celebrity hero.

Blurred lines make it almost impossible to separate real from fake. Falling for my roommate was never part of the deal, especially when Ryan is quick to remind me that he doesn’t believe in love.

I’m a romantic and ������’t help fantasizing that he’ll change, but soon enough, I find myself questioning if sharing a roof with my best friend’s brother was the right move after all]]> 499 Liz Tomforde Brenda 4 I loved Indy and Ryan ]]> 4.39 2023
author: Liz Tomforde
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/01
date added: 2023/05/01
shelves:
review:
WAYYY better than the first one
I loved Indy and Ryan
]]> 25507389
I've always been good at following rules.��Until she came.��My name is Tyler Anselm Bell. I'm twenty-nine years old. Six months ago, I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church, and God help me, I would do it again.��I am a priest and this is my confession.

Priest is a standalone, full-length novel with an HEA. ��For mature audiences only]]> 354 Sierra Simone Brenda 3 If you like spicy books, I’d recommend ]]> 3.59 2015
author: Sierra Simone
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/28
date added: 2023/04/28
shelves:
review:
3.5 ⭐️
If you like spicy books, I’d recommend
]]> 51317220 From #1 Amazon Bestseller L.J. Shen comes a new, emotional standalone about first love, second chances, and overcoming breathtaking losses at a young age.

Vaughn Spencer.
They call him an angry god.
To me, he is nothing but a heartless prince.
His parents rule this town, its police, every citizen and boutique on Main Street.
All I own is a nice, juicy grudge against him for that time he almost killed me.
Between hooking up with a different girl every weekend, breaking hearts, noses and rules, Vaughn also finds the time to bully little ole�� me.
I fight back, tooth and nail, never expecting him to chase me across the ocean after we graduate high school.
But here he is, living with me in a dark, looming castle on the outskirts of London.
A fellow intern. A prodigal sculptor. A bloody genius.
They say this place is haunted, and it is.
Carlisle Castle hides two of our most awful secrets.
Vaughn thinks he can kill the ghosts of his past, but what he doesn’t know? It’s my heart he’s slaying.

Angry God is a stand-alone, DARK High School Romance. It deals with sensitive subjects some may find triggering.]]> 386 L.J. Shen Brenda 4 This book was my least favorite of the all saints high books but it was still a four star read
I didn’t find myself loving Lenora like I loved Daria and Luna.
It was a bit boring at times but towards the middle of the book it got good and I couldn’t put it down

Before reading, pls check tigger warnings!!!! ]]> 4.17 2020
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/24
date added: 2023/04/24
shelves:
review:
So sad to finish the sinners of saints/all saints high series :( but ASH > SOS series
This book was my least favorite of the all saints high books but it was still a four star read
I didn’t find myself loving Lenora like I loved Daria and Luna.
It was a bit boring at times but towards the middle of the book it got good and I couldn’t put it down

Before reading, pls check tigger warnings!!!!
]]> 52274111
"Everyone needs to read this book. I’m certain you won’t feel a single regret. " - Harloe Rae, USA Today Bestselling author.

From Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post bestselling author L.J. Shen comes a new, standalone romance about first loves, betrayal and loss.

Not all love stories are written the same way. Ours had torn chapters, missing paragraphs, and a bittersweet ending.

Luna Rexroth is everyone’s favorite wallflower.
Sweet.
Caring.
Charitable.
Quiet.
Fake.
Underneath the meek, tomboy exterior everyone loves (yet pities) is a girl who knows exactly what, and who, she wants—namely, the boy from the treehouse who taught her how to curse in sign language.
Who taught her how to laugh.
To live.
To love.

Knight Cole is everyone’s favorite football hero.
Gorgeous.
Athletic.
Rugged.
Popular.
Liar.
This daredevil hell-raiser could knock you up with his gaze alone, but he only has eyes for the girl across the street: Luna.
But Luna is not who she used to be. She doesn’t need his protection anymore.
When life throws a curveball at All Saints�� golden boy, he’s forced to realize not all knights are heroes.
Sometimes, the greatest love stories flourish in tragedy.]]> 380 L.J. Shen 1686783108 Brenda 5 4.07 2019
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/21
date added: 2023/04/21
shelves:
review:
Started crying halfway through the book and didn’t stop until I finished it
]]> 39709060
He took her first kiss, and she took away the only person he ever loved.

He asked her to save the rest of her firsts for him, and she walked all over his heart in stiletto heels and left it bleeding out on a bright summer day.

Now, everything has changed.

When circumstances leave Penn homeless in his senior year, the Followhills take him in as their latest shiny project. That means, for the time being, he's Daria's housemate, living right across the hall.

And once he sees her again, he's determined to make this spoiled princess pay for ruining the only good thing in his life.

But Daria is used to being misunderstood. Being slammed for every snarky comment, cynical eye roll, and foot she puts in the way of the people who hurt her.

Being the girl everyone wants to see cry, and keeping her tears hidden. Penn wanted her firsts, but she wants to be his last everything.

The problem is, once they see past each other's cutting barbs and wounded hearts, the truths they uncover might just start something new altogether.]]> 360 L.J. Shen 1095447416 Brenda 5 Loved loved loved this book
Better than vicious
Adored penn and Daria. I don’t think this book was meant to be sad but I was CRYING. Multiple times. I saw so much of myself in Daria

Loved seeing the four original hotholes ]]> 3.99 2019
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/19
date added: 2023/04/19
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars bc of the “oh my Marx��
Loved loved loved this book
Better than vicious
Adored penn and Daria. I don’t think this book was meant to be sad but I was CRYING. Multiple times. I saw so much of myself in Daria

Loved seeing the four original hotholes
]]> 35378505 A COMPLETE standalone and a Sinners of Saint spin-off.


Bane
Naked surfer. Habitual pothead. A con, a liar, a thief and a fraud.
Last I heard, he was extorting the rich and screwing their wives for a living.
Which is why I’m more than a little surprised to find him at my threshold, looking for my friendship, my services, and most puzzling of all—looking humbled.
Thing is, I’m on a boycott. Literally—I cut boys from my life. Permanently.
Problem is, Bane is not a boy, he is all man, and I’m falling, crashing, drowning in his sweet, perfect lies.

Jesse Carter
Hot as hell, cold as ice.
I wasn’t aware of her existence until a fat, juicy deal landed in my lap.
She’s a part of it, a little plaything to kill some time.
She is collateral, a means to an end, and a side-bonus for striking a deal with her oil tycoon stepdad.
More than anything, Jesse Carter is a tough nut to crack.
Little does she know, I have the teeth for it.

*This book contains material that might be offensive for some or elicit a strong emotional response.]]> 354 L.J. Shen Brenda 3 Way better than the third one.
Overall series gets 4 stars. First book carried ]]> 4.12 2018
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/18
date added: 2023/04/18
shelves:
review:
3.5
Way better than the third one.
Overall series gets 4 stars. First book carried
]]> 34450909 Hard, cold and calculated, he rarely speaks.
When he does, it’s with disdain.
When he does, his words aren’t meant for me.
When he does, my stomach flips and my world tilts on its axis.
He is thirty-three.
I am eighteen.
He’s a single dad and my father’s business partner.
I’m just a kid to him and his enemy’s daughter.
He’s emotionally unavailable.
And I am…feeling. Feeling things I shouldn’t feel for him.
Trent Rexroth is going to break my heart. The writing isn’t just on the wall, it’s inked on my soul.
And yet, I ������’t stay away.
A scandal is the last thing my family needs. But a scandal is what we’re going to give them.
And oh, what beautiful chaos it will be]]> 315 L.J. Shen Brenda 2 FMC is 18 and MMC is 33 ]]> 4.03 2017
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2023/04/16
date added: 2023/04/18
shelves:
review:
Age gap made me uncomfy
FMC is 18 and MMC is 33
]]> 33643772 369 L.J. Shen Brenda 3 Mixed feelings because it annoyed me how much Dean and Rosie blamed Millie for everything. It was not Millie’s fault these two couldn’t communicate and be honest about their feelings for each other
It was very inconsistent. In the first book we see how annoyed and frustrated Dean is over Vicious�� feelings towards Millie but in Ruckus�� book we learn that dean always had feelings for Rosie so why did he even care if vicious had feelings for Millie??? If he wanted to protect Millie that badly he could’ve just befriended her

Other than that it was an interesting read. Made me appreciate the first book better ]]> 4.06 2017
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/15
date added: 2023/04/15
shelves:
review:

Mixed feelings because it annoyed me how much Dean and Rosie blamed Millie for everything. It was not Millie’s fault these two couldn’t communicate and be honest about their feelings for each other
It was very inconsistent. In the first book we see how annoyed and frustrated Dean is over Vicious�� feelings towards Millie but in Ruckus�� book we learn that dean always had feelings for Rosie so why did he even care if vicious had feelings for Millie??? If he wanted to protect Millie that badly he could’ve just befriended her

Other than that it was an interesting read. Made me appreciate the first book better
]]> 60909831
Chicago hockey isn't complete without me - everyone's favourite player to hate. I know my role, and I play it well. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy spending the majority of my game time in the penalty box before leaving the arena with a new girl on my arm each night.

What I don't like is the new flight attendant on our team's private plane. She works for me, not the other way around. But I'll be sure to remind her of that, and I can guarantee, by the end of the season, she'll be begging to quit her job.

But every road trip blurs the lines, and I can't quite figure out if I keep pushing that flight attendant call button in order to push her buttons, or if it's more than that.

STEVIE

I've been a flight attendant for years. I thought I'd seen it all, but when my new job lands me onboard working for the most egotistical and self-righteous diva in the NHL, I start to second guess everything. Including the promise I made to myself of never hooking up with an athlete again . . . no matter how annoyingly tempting he may be.

Evan Zanders is unfiltered, unapologetic, and too attractive for his own good. He loves his image, but I hate everything about it.

Everything but him.]]> 603 Liz Tomforde Brenda 3 This one was mediocre at best :/ I really wanted to love it. There was NO reason for this to be 600 pages. It dragged. Author should’ve ended it after the gala tbh. I remember thinking “ugh I’m only 50% in???��
Both of the MCs were terrible. Ten years of therapy and you’re still like that??? Bro just fire your therapist at this point.
I’m all for body positivity and plus size representation but we really don’t need to be reminded during every single Stevie POV about how “I’m not like other girls, I love eating junk food and wearing my sweatpants�� LIKE WE GET IT
Also the third act breakup is overdone and most books aren’t doing it right (I’m talking to you Mile High)
The only redeeming part was the dog shelter and the Madison/Logan family]]> 3.98 2022
author: Liz Tomforde
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/12
date added: 2023/04/12
shelves:
review:
I only read this bc I heard the second book is really good.
This one was mediocre at best :/ I really wanted to love it. There was NO reason for this to be 600 pages. It dragged. Author should’ve ended it after the gala tbh. I remember thinking “ugh I’m only 50% in???��
Both of the MCs were terrible. Ten years of therapy and you’re still like that??? Bro just fire your therapist at this point.
I’m all for body positivity and plus size representation but we really don’t need to be reminded during every single Stevie POV about how “I’m not like other girls, I love eating junk food and wearing my sweatpants�� LIKE WE GET IT
Also the third act breakup is overdone and most books aren’t doing it right (I’m talking to you Mile High)
The only redeeming part was the dog shelter and the Madison/Logan family
]]> 30839185 Emilia

They say love and hate are the same feelings experienced under different circumstances, and it’s true. The man who comes to me in my dreams also haunts me in my nightmares. He is a brilliant lawyer. A skilled criminal. A beautiful liar. A bully and a savior, a monster and a lover.

Ten years ago, he made me run away from the small town where we lived. Now, he came for me in New York, and he isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.

Vicious

She is a starving artist. Pretty and evasive like cherry blossom. Ten years ago, she barged into my life unannounced and turned everything upside down. She paid the price.

Emilia LeBlanc is completely off-limits, my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who knows my darkest secret, and the daughter of the cheap Help we hired to take care of our estate. That should deter me from chasing her, but it doesn’t. So she hates me. Big fucking deal. She better get used to me.]]> 339 L.J. Shen Brenda 4 I loved the banter and the characters and I ������’t wait to read more about Rosie in the second book

*update:
Re reading it made me realize how dumb and annoying Millie was ]]> 3.95 2016
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/10
date added: 2023/04/10
shelves:
review:
This was very Wattpady but such a quick read!
I loved the banter and the characters and I ������’t wait to read more about Rosie in the second book

*update:
Re reading it made me realize how dumb and annoying Millie was
]]> 32027054 Defy is a smutty, insta-love, insta-lust short novella. Defy is a prequel to Vicious (Sinners of Saint #1). It is recommended, but unnecessary, to read Defy before reading Vicious.

First included in Hot for Teacher Anthology: 19 Stories Filled with Lust and Love.

My name is Melody Greene, and I have a confession to make.
I slept with my student, a senior in high school.
Multiple times.
I had multiple orgasms.
In multiple positions.
I slept with my student and I enjoyed it.
I slept with my student and I’d do it all over again if I could turn back time.
My name is Melody Greene, and I got kicked out of my position as a teacher and did my walk of shame a la Cersei Lannister from the principal’s office, minutes after said principal threatened to call the cops on me.
My name is Melody Greene, and I did something bad because it made me feel good.
Here is why it was totally worth it.]]> 165 L.J. Shen Brenda 4 Not a huge fan of the student/teacher relationship]]> 3.86 2016
author: L.J. Shen
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/07
date added: 2023/04/07
shelves:
review:
3.7 ⭐️
Not a huge fan of the student/teacher relationship
]]> 58684524
While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere�� ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she ������’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

The New York Times bestselling author of Life's Too Short delivers a refreshingly modern fairy tale perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Emily Henry.]]> 389 Abby Jimenez 1538704374 Brenda 4 The perfect small town romance ]]> 4.26 2022
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/05
date added: 2023/04/05
shelves:
review:
This book had me kicking my feet and giggling over how cute it was
The perfect small town romance
]]> 23309634
We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.

You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.

We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.

Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding��

I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.

After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?

M

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection�� post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City.]]> 310 Renee Carlino 1501105779 Brenda 4 I’m an absolute SUCKER for a friends to lover’s book and this did not disappoint
I loved grace and Matt’s relationship though I did get slightly annoyed with both of them throughout the book. Monica getting a redemption arc ]]> 4.02 2015
author: Renee Carlino
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/02
date added: 2023/04/03
shelves:
review:
Second chance romance, friends to lovers, miscommunications (least fav trope) AND right person wrong time trope
I’m an absolute SUCKER for a friends to lover’s book and this did not disappoint
I loved grace and Matt’s relationship though I did get slightly annoyed with both of them throughout the book. Monica getting a redemption arc
]]> 41715227 The repercussions of an illicit affair unfold in this short story by bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Dear stranger��

A desperate young woman in Southern California sits down to write a letter to a man she’s never met—a choice that will forever change both their lives.

My heart goes out to you, David. Even though I do not know you��

The correspondence between Carrie Allsop and David Mayer reveals, piece by piece, the painful details of a devastating affair between their spouses. With each commiserating scratch of the pen, they confess their fears and bare their souls. They share the bewilderment over how things went so wrong and come to wonder where to go from here.

Told entirely through the letters of two comforting strangers and those of two illicit lovers, Evidence of the Affair explores the complex nature of the heart. And ultimately, for one woman, how liberating it can be when it’s broken.]]> 88 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1542044510 Brenda 4 3.86 2018
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/20
date added: 2023/03/20
shelves:
review:
How many ways are there for TJR to break my heart? This was only 88 pages and I loved it! I need more :(
]]> 59723790
It’s the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there’s one question on everyone’s mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die, or is it just an elaborate hoax?

Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he’s going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what’s coming.

Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident.

Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever—one of them receives a call, and the other doesn’t. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together…even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking.

Told with acclaimed author Adam Silvera’s signature bittersweet touch, this story celebrates the lasting impact that people have on each other and proves that life is always worth living to the fullest.]]> 550 Adam Silvera 0063240807 Brenda 4 Loved this almost as much as They Both Die at The End ]]> 3.98 2022
author: Adam Silvera
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/20
date added: 2023/03/20
shelves:
review:
4.5 ⭐️
Loved this almost as much as They Both Die at The End
]]> 41945163
Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen—especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.

The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.]]> 372 Abby Jimenez Brenda 0 to-read 3.85 2019
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58756420 From the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue comes a debut YA romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need...

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.

Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.

Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.]]> 356 Casey McQuiston 1250244455 Brenda 3 I was bored the first half of the book. It was cute overall and funny but it is YA so I think that’s why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I
Casey McQuiston is still queen though ]]> 3.87 2022
author: Casey McQuiston
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/14
date added: 2023/03/14
shelves:
review:
3.5/5 ⭐️
I was bored the first half of the book. It was cute overall and funny but it is YA so I think that’s why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I
Casey McQuiston is still queen though
]]> 58341222 A troubled young mother yearns for a shot at redemption in this heartbreaking yet hopeful story from #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover. After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself. The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them. The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.]]> 335 Colleen Hoover 1542025605 Brenda 5 favorites Colleen Hoover you have done it again ]]> 4.33 2022
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/22
date added: 2023/03/07
shelves: favorites
review:
HOLY SHIT
Colleen Hoover you have done it again
]]> 32620332
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ��80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]> 389 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1501139231 Brenda 5 favorites I spent the last 100 pages crying. I have no words.
It’s difficult to describe how much I love this book and I know I’m going to remember this story for the rest of my life.
This book is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. I probably say this a lot but this book doesn’t compare and now I’m overthinking every 5 star books I’ve ever given. If I could give this book six stars I would. I think this might be my best read of all time

This book is about Evelyn Hugo, a Hollywood icon who is ready to tell her story years later. It talks about her seven husbands and the love of her life. Each chapter is a different husband and throughout each we learn about her struggles in the industry, her personal life, etc.
At the age of 79, Evelyn, who is ready to tell her story about how she rose to fame, hires reporter Monique Grant to write her life story. We go on to learn how Evelyn met her first husband Ernie at the age of 14 and how Harry Cameron (young producer) notices her.

Historical fiction with diversity. What's not to love? I fell in love with Evelyn, Harry, Celia and Monique. All for different reasons but TJR did an amazing job creating characters that we could relate to one way or another.


If you haven’t already please please read this]]> 4.39 2017
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/04
date added: 2023/03/07
shelves: favorites
review:
I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t that.
I spent the last 100 pages crying. I have no words.
It’s difficult to describe how much I love this book and I know I’m going to remember this story for the rest of my life.
This book is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. I probably say this a lot but this book doesn’t compare and now I’m overthinking every 5 star books I’ve ever given. If I could give this book six stars I would. I think this might be my best read of all time

This book is about Evelyn Hugo, a Hollywood icon who is ready to tell her story years later. It talks about her seven husbands and the love of her life. Each chapter is a different husband and throughout each we learn about her struggles in the industry, her personal life, etc.
At the age of 79, Evelyn, who is ready to tell her story about how she rose to fame, hires reporter Monique Grant to write her life story. We go on to learn how Evelyn met her first husband Ernie at the age of 14 and how Harry Cameron (young producer) notices her.

Historical fiction with diversity. What's not to love? I fell in love with Evelyn, Harry, Celia and Monique. All for different reasons but TJR did an amazing job creating characters that we could relate to one way or another.


If you haven’t already please please read this
]]> 17340050 In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him��

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.]]> 321 Colleen Hoover Brenda 4
I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book as much as I did the first time I read it because I thought it would be the same just in Holders POV. Boy was I wrong. I LOVED this book.
We get to see what happened the year before Sky came into Holder's life and his thoughts on his sister, the party, etc.
Sky doesn’t feel any sexual attraction to anyone until she meets Holder. When Sky and Holder first meet they both feel like they know each other and as they spend more time together Sky begins to remember her past and Holder starts putting two and two together.
The plot twists had me on the edge of my seat.
Sky’s strength is so admirable and the love Holder has for her is everything. ]]> 4.11 2013
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/04
date added: 2023/03/07
shelves:
review:
Read Hopeless back in 2020/2021 and adored the book! I've been wanting to read Losing Hope for a while now and Simon and Schuster were kind enough to send me this with the new cover!

I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book as much as I did the first time I read it because I thought it would be the same just in Holders POV. Boy was I wrong. I LOVED this book.
We get to see what happened the year before Sky came into Holder's life and his thoughts on his sister, the party, etc.
Sky doesn’t feel any sexual attraction to anyone until she meets Holder. When Sky and Holder first meet they both feel like they know each other and as they spend more time together Sky begins to remember her past and Holder starts putting two and two together.
The plot twists had me on the edge of my seat.
Sky’s strength is so admirable and the love Holder has for her is everything.
]]> 30763950
Who exactly is this gruff, sarcastic, but seemingly harmless boy who has returned to their hometown of Five Fingers, Michigan, after three mysterious years away? And why has June—an O’Donnell to her core—never questioned her late father’s deep hatred of the Angert family? After all, the O’Donnells and the Angerts may have mythic legacies, but for all the tall tales they weave, both founding families are tight-lipped about what caused the century-old rift between them.

As Saul and June’s connection grows deeper, they find that the magic, ghosts, and coywolves of Five Fingers seem to be conspiring to reveal the truth about the harrowing curse that has plagued their bloodlines for generations. Now June must question everything she knows about her family and the father she adored, and she must decide whether it’s finally time for her—and all the O’Donnells before her—to let go.]]> 400 Emily Henry 0448493969 Brenda 0 to-read 3.80 2017
author: Emily Henry
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 25467698
Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start... until she starts seeing the “wrong things.�� They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,�� who tells her: “You have three months to save him.�� The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.]]> 396 Emily Henry 0698408152 Brenda 0 to-read 3.54 2016
author: Emily Henry
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53799686
Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.

First is Zara, a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else until tragedy changed her life. Now, she’s obsessed with visiting open houses to see how ordinary people live—and, perhaps, to set an old wrong to right. Then there’s Roger and Anna-Lena, an Ikea-addicted retired couple who are on a never-ending hunt for fixer-uppers to hide the fact that they don’t know how to fix their own failing marriage. Julia and Ro are a young lesbian couple and soon-to-be parents who are nervous about their chances for a successful life together since they ������’t agree on anything. And there’s Estelle, an eighty-year-old woman who has lived long enough to be unimpressed by a masked bank robber waving a gun in her face. And despite the story she tells them all, Estelle hasn’t really come to the apartment to view it for her daughter, and her husband really isn’t outside parking the car.

As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people.

Rich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature�� (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People’s whimsical plot serves up unforgettable insights into the human condition and a gentle reminder to be compassionate to all the anxious people we encounter every day.]]> 336 Fredrik Backman 1982121602 Brenda 0 to-read 4.12 2019
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Brenda
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 18105011
She knows Descartes and Kant.

She knows academia and Oxford.

She knows that the people who love you leave you.

She knows how to be alone.

But when Molly leaves England's grey skies behind to start a new life at the University of Alabama, she finds that she has a lot to learn �� she didn't know a summer could be so hot, she didn't know students could be so intimidating, and she certainly didn't know just how much the folks of Alabama love their football.

When a chance encounter with notorious star quarterback, Romeo Prince, leaves her unable to think of anything but his chocolate-brown eyes, dirty-blond hair and perfect physique, Molly soon realises that her quiet, solitary life is about to dramatically change forever...

Mature New Adult novel �� contains adult content, highly sexual situations and mature topics. Suited for ages 18 and up*]]> 401 Tillie Cole Brenda 0 to-read 3.96 2013
author: Tillie Cole
name: Brenda
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>