en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 08:16:32 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus9370131373 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 08:16:32 -0700 /review/show/7438930736 Laura started reading With Love, from Cold World by Alicia Thompson
]]> Review7438927723 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 08:13:20 -0700 /review/show/7438927723 Laura gave 4 stars to Love and Other Flight Delays (Paperback) by Denise Williams
The Love Connection
She's an airport pet groomer, he's a romance author who works as a professional risk assessor. Every time he flies, the two of them get to spend some time together in-between all of his flights, and when they fake date in order for him to go with her to a wedding her ex will also attend, their situation quickly turns into something more.

I loved the way they met, with her chasing the dog through the airport and him catching it, and the development of their relationship was cute. However the whole grand gesture at the end felt a little odd to me? Maybe that's just me, but they were really together for only three days, though I guess seeing each other on and off for a while and talking to each other in between counts, so I guess I can get behind it. Either way, I thought this story was adorable. -- 4.5 stars

The Missed Connection
It's New Years Eve, and when two strangers sitting next to each other at a bar at the airport hook up and become each others NYE kiss, they think nothing of it. Months later, she quickly discovers that that same guy is her professional rival. When they're put together to go on a business trip, sparks will fly once more.

I feel like I missed something, because this sounds cute, I just didn't understand the rivalry, but I do like the way that they met only to realize months later that he's the person that she can't stand in her field. I do like how their relationship grows, but I do feel like things were a little too convenient in this one. Still enjoyed it. -- 4 stars

The Sweetest Connection
With one week until her trip abroad, and the discovery of an old pros-and-cons list in the back of the candy store, these two besties will go on a hunt to discover who that list belongs to. And maybe it might finally be the time for the two of them to also face their own feelings that have been between them for years before they miss another chance.

Okay I really like this one, and I'm not the biggest fan of friends-to-lovers. I felt like it was done in such a cute way because we got flashbacks of the past. I loved the whole video chat moments between them, and I loved the chemistry these two had. -- 4.5 stars

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Overall this collection is cute, a tad spicy especially at the end, but not too much. I enjoyed the whole airport as the main hub so it was like we got to see little stories taking place in the same Airport like episodes in a show, and I thought that it was adorable. Plus I love the ending and the way it all ties up in the end.

Actual Rating -- 4.5 stars ]]> Review7438929559 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:50:06 -0700 /review/show/7438929559 Laura gave 5 stars to Better Than Fiction (Paperback) by Alexa Martin
Drew isn't a reader, at all, but when her grandma passes and leaves her her bookstore, the Book Nook, Drew takes on the responsibility of running it. She has no idea what she's doing, but she's slowly figuring things out. When bestselling author Jasper Williams comes to the store for a book signing event, the resident book club -- a group of very cheeky old ladies -- decides to do what they do best and meddle. Jasper is in town to write his latest book, and Drew knows all about Denver. So he makes a list and offers her an exchange -- she takes him around to explore Denver, and she will have to read a book off of the list and he will plan something for them to do based on the book she just read. Drew's life suddenly feels like one of Jasper's books, but when things with the store come to light, Drew will have to figure out just what makes her happy. And Jasper? Jasper already knows where this is going, and he's determined to get the HEA he wants.

Okay I absolutely love this book. There are so many layers here, from her grieving the loss of her grandmother who has raised her to the whole romance between her and Jasper and everything in between. A few things that I really enjoyed was you had a bucket list kind of plot and it's not just a bucket list plot but more like it's the exchange of information? I thought the whole thing was absolutely adorable, and everything they did together was just sweet. I love the two of them, and I was so upset because of course SPOILER ALERT there's that third act break up that I can't stand, but it is a romance so the ending is really cute. I love how everything came together by the end of the book. This author is definitely going to be on my read list because this was so adorable and so sad and so sweet. I have so many emotions surrounding it because of the content and the way it was written. ]]> Review7438929993 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:38:43 -0700 /review/show/7438929993 Laura gave 5 stars to Spoiler Alert (Spoiler Alert, #1) by Olivia Dade
Marcus Caster-Rupp is the star of the biggest show on television, but behind the scenes he's been writing fanfiction under the name Book!AeneasWouldNever where he write out his ideas on what should've happened to his favorite couple, correcting mistakes the writers of the show made. But he's been keeping it a secret, knowing his whole reputation in Hollywood would be ruined if he were to be discovered. April is a hardcore Lavinia fan, and she's been hiding her love for the show -- fanfic and cosplay -- from her "real life," but when she takes a chance and posts herself in full cosplay on Twitter, her photo goes viral. But people aren't always nice when it comes to plus-size women. And then she gets asked out by Marcus on Twitter and she accepts. At first their date is awkward, until April admits to being a fanfic writer under the name Unapologetic Lavinia Stan -- the same account who has been his closest friend for over two years. Determined to keep his writing a secret, the two of them hit it off and fall in love really quick, but when life seems to be a work of fiction, it's only a matter of time until it ends.

Okay I absolutely loved this book. The whole fanfiction element -- her writing fanfic of her favorite characters from her favorite TV show and then posting a photo of herself only for the main actor to respond to it and be like hey let's go out for dinner and her accepting without realizing on either of their parts that they've been writing besties online... it was just so cute and I absolutely adored their relationship. I wanted so much more for him. Marcus was such a cinnamon roll sweetheart and he deserved all the love in the world. I found Appril to be a little obnoxious at first when it came to certain topics, but then getting her back story later on and seeing the amount of emotional trauma that she has gone through because of certain things (trying to stay spoiler-free here) it kind of makes sense why she is the way she is and why when he had made comments that didn't mean something she took it that way. So everything kind of came together and it was so fun. I loved this story and I will 100% be continuing with this series. ]]> Review7438924900 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:20:39 -0700 /review/show/7438924900 Laura gave 3 stars to Without a Hitch (Paperback) by Mary Hollis Huddleston
Lottie is a wedding planner at a top--tier firm, though that isn't what she's always wanted to do. But when a breakup derails her entire life, she has learned to just go with it. And that includes navigating a cutthroat workplace and planning over-the-top weddings for her super rich clients, and whenever something comes up, she's the one to handle it. When her boss announces that he'll be opening up a new office, Lottie takes a risk and throws her name into the ring. With the weddings getting more wild than ever, Lottie will have to navigate pleasing the brides, fixing one wedding debacle after another, and her own love life, and maybe -- just maybe -- she might be able to have it all.

I wanted to like this book more than I did, so let's start with things I liked about it: I liked the wedding planning aspect, I liked the whole plot of following Lottie as she moves forward in her life and figures out who she is outside of her ex as well as outside of the plans that her her family has for her, I like the over the top descriptions of the weddings and the ridiculousness that happens during them because some of the were extremely over the top and hilarious. My biggest complaint about this book is the romance aspect in the sense that it didn't really exist and it was very disappointing. I didn't like her with any of the guys, and her being hung up on Brody this whole time annoyed me. I was seriously cheering when Griffin called her out on it because I just didn't understand why she was this hung up on it to the point where she acts like a crazy person, but again I personally didn't care about the romance at all and I kind of hated how it ended.

Actual Rating: 2.75 stars ]]> Review7435977439 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:09:39 -0700 /review/show/7435977439 Laura gave 2 stars to Victories Greater Than Death (Unstoppable #1) by Charlie Jane Anders
Tina has always known that she isn't just an average teen -- she also happens to be the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon. Knowing that someday it'll activate and she'll be taken off of the planet, she's lived her life here disguised as a human -- a hidden clone of a famous alien hero waiting to fight the evil that still exists. What she doesn't expect is to be taken along with her best friend and a group of ragtag teens that also happen to be the smartest people on the planet. Together, the group will face down dangers they never imagined as they make it their mission to save all the worlds.

Maybe it's just me? But this book did not do anything for me at all. It felt like a mashup of Galaxy Quest and Mass Effect and maybe a dash of Hitchhiker's Guide? It just wasn't funny to me, and it tried to be. The whole super smart human teenagers being smarter and more adept than all the aliens felt very much like that Galaxy Quest moment where they try to pull one over on Saren like it just didn't feel original to me. And I was not entertained by a lot of the nonsense that happened. Plus the way they spoke, almost like valley girls (and not just because of the narrator) really annoyed me. I did kind of like the technology, but overall it just wasn't a book for me. ]]> Review7438923044 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 22:52:58 -0700 /review/show/7438923044 Laura gave 4 stars to The Unfairest of Them All (Ever After High, #2) by Shannon Hale
After the events of Legacy Day where Raven refused to sign the book of legends, Ever After High has been turned upside down. Apple White is concerned that her HEA is in jeopardy with Raven refusing to take on the mantle of the Evil Queen, leaving her story up in the air. Raven doesn't think her decision is causing all the chaos around her, but the more things seem to go wrong, the more it all points to that moment. And so when Madeline Hatter gets into trouble, Raven and Apple team up to help get her out of it. But with nothing being set in stone, and the Royals and the Rebels constantly fighting, it becomes clear that maybe everyone's HEA imght be at risk.

So, Apple is horrified by Raven's decisions and wants nothing more than to have her happily ever after, doesn't matter how anyone else feels about it, and in my opinion it's still so selfish because she's not thinking about anybody else except for herself. She assumes a happy ending for a villain is that they got to do what they wanted to do and now they're punished for it like it doesn't make sense to me? And, in my opinion, I think Apple is the real villain in the story. But that's just me. I think my biggest issue with the Ever After High plot is that I not only agree with Raven, but I have started looking at a lot of the heroes as villains because of their selfish way of thinking, because realistically isn't that a quality of being evil? But again, that's just me. I do enjoy this series and I am excited to see where it goes from here, especially now that the Jabberwocky is free. ]]> Review7438930211 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 21:29:39 -0700 /review/show/7438930211 Laura gave 4 stars to Best Served Hot (Paperback) by Amanda Elliot
Julie has been running her social media account as a restaurant reviewer for a while now, with an account with over fifty thousand followers. She loves what she does, but she would love a job as a food critic for a major newspaper. But when her application for the NY Scroll is rejected, only to be given to Bennett Richard Macalester Wright, she gets angry, and her fury come out when she runs into him at a food festival. After going off on him, she realizes that her friend has recorded the entire argument, including his outdated opinions on social media and food bloggers, Julie decides to upload it to the internet. And when the Scroll asks her to partner up with him to generate more online buzz, they reluctantly agree. But as they review more restaurants, spending more and more time with one another, their relationship turns from rivals to lovers real fast. But how long can that last?

This is actually really cute. The whole food vlogging thing was great, and I loved seeing both sides to reviewing food. I loved the whole rivalry between them and all the moments that led us from rivals to friends to lovers. I loved their romance and the chemistry between them. However, if there was one thing I would change with this book, it would just be how long it takes her to realize that he actually cares instead of constantly acting crazy and assuming things. But this is a super cute, super sweet romance, and I will definitely keep my eye out for more books by this author.

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars ]]> Review5137013536 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 21:15:41 -0700 /review/show/5137013536 Laura gave 5 stars to Cursed (Gilded, #2) by Marissa Meyer
THIS IS BOOK 2. THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1.

Pregnant and cursed, Serilda is trapped within the halls of Adalheid. As her and Gild attempt to free themselves from their curses, they discover the Erlking's plan -- capture one of the seven gods, make a wish, and bring back Perchta from the underworld. Now, racing against time, they'll have to break their curses, thwart the Erlking's plan, protect the unborn baby, try and release the rest of the spirits trapped within Adalheid, and discover Gild's name all before the Endless Moon. And the Erlking's plans might be way more sinister than they could have ever imagined.

So the thing that made book one amazing were the fairy tale vibes and the slow unfurling of the storyline, the beautiful writing, beautiful folklore, and just everything woven into it was fantastic. Now, book two, what makes this book absolutely amazing is how fast-paced the story is from the moment we start until the very ending -- there is no downtime, there is no pause for breathing, there is just action upon action upon action and it is almost exhausting. But, it kept me going, it had my heart racing, I could not put this book down for the second time, and I feel like rereading book one again and then rereading this one allowed me to really analyze everything that was going on. There was just so much to take in, so much heartbreak, so much devastation, and poor Serilda really was just dealt blow after blow, that poor girl could not catch a break. AND MY BABY GILD! He deserves the entire world. But I absolutely love the ending and how everything came together, I loved the romance between her and Gild. This is probably one of my favorite duologies -- if not my favorite -- and I will always recommend this. It is dark, it is twisty, it has a lot of heartbreak and emotions and it is just a fantastic set of books. Highly highly highly recommend. ]]> ReadStatus9367535907 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 14:06:36 -0700 /review/show/7438929559 Laura started reading Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin
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