This book was so unexpectedly cozy! While I loved the story of a small town hobby farmer showing a popular chef and his orphaned niece around the town, showing them the best of small town life and watching them fall in love with the town and the people, I loved these quotes more!
Cue the spaghetti western ocarina. I chime in before either woman calls for a showdown at high noon.
“Besides, it’s a football field away from me.” Quite literally. I measured the meadow that sits between our houses the summer after seventh grade. It’d been an especially unexciting year.
I am categorically not threatening right now. I’m recovering from an existential crisis over a vacuum.
“Wait. How’d you distract her?”
“I handed her my goose.” She says this like it’s in any way a normal sentence.
“Ah, I see,” she says, nodding seriously. “The one-armed felon. He’s notorious around here. He traps all his victims by convincing them to lie down in a field.”
OH MY GOD. I really did that, didn’t I? I just talked about nipples and ejaculating back-to-back.
“Fisher, I’ll be happy to listen to your origin story later, but right now, we’re discussing canoes.”
“What if I don’t like it quick, Sage?” I ask, rapt on her reaction. “What if I prefer to savor things. Want it good and slow and drawn out?”
He seems to be all business at the moment, so I try to match that energy rather than telling him I’d drink this from a dirty boot just to get more of it.
“I’m going to kiss you and show you affection now.”
“What?!” I balk.
“I’ve always said that nothing screams romance like being submerged in the icy Pacific before 7:00 A.M.”
Before I know it, while I’m knee-deep in the drama of timber wars, Sage reaches across the desk and runs her finger up my arm. My hair stands on end in its wake.
“Good boy,” she tells me. And I don’t think studying together will ever be a problem again. She gets up and starts sliding our books into her bag, and I follow suit. I can’t wipe off the dumb look I know I have on my face, and if I had a tail, I know it’d be wagging.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him again. “My brain and I are fighting, I think.” I offer him an apologetic shrug.
“Yeah? What’s that bitch trying to say?” he replies.
“I talked a big game about staying focused.” He lets out a sigh. “And it’s made it so the tiniest things you do feel fucking erotic to me, and it is torture. I’m hanging on by a damn thread and trying to stick to that, but it’s so much harder than I’d thought.”
My face breaks into a happy beam that his shines right back at me.
“Glad you’re still enjoying my pain,” he adds.
I’ve also discovered I can make him blush when I say Yes, Chef, just right, and I’m delighting in abusing this power.
“Why are you here?” he says.
“Um,” I reply with blatant annoyance, breaking his hold. “Our brother lit himself on fire?”
“I think finding your people is what makes the difference,” she says with another heartbreaking cry.
“Or finding your bird?” I offer. Her shoulders fall, and she wails again.
The bird and his girl collide in the distance, Indy falling to her knees with an unrepentant cry.
There were so many good moments in Savor It, and still so many I didn’t include in this selection of my favorite quotes! If you’d like to read more, check out Savor It by Tara DeWitt!
Summer won’t last forever.
Sage Byrd has lived in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) her entire life. She’s learned to love her small world, with the misfit animals on her hobby farm, and her friendships with the town’s inhabitants. But when her 5-year relationship ends and her ex, town-golden-boy Ian, suddenly gets engaged, Sage needs a win―something that will convince everyone to stop pitying her all the time, and to put Ian in his place. The Festival of Spunes, the town’s annual summer competition, would be the perfect opportunity. She just needs a partner.
Fisher Lange was a hotshot chef in New York City until the loss of his sister left him numb, grieving, and responsible for his teenage niece Indy. When Fisher loses his Michelin star along with his love of cooking, his boss sends him and Indy to Spunes on a much-needed summer sabbatical to consult on a restaurant opening. But when clashes with the townspeople threaten his last chance to redeem himself and a kiss with his new neighbor Sage leads to dating rumors, a strategic alliance might just be the best way to turn things around.
A deal is struck. Sage will improve Fisher’s image in the eyes of the town and remove the roadblocks he is facing with the restaurant, and Fisher will be Sage’s partner for the competition. But as their pact quickly turns into steamy rendezvous, emotional wounds begin to heal, and the pair tries to savor every moment, they start to realize that summer is racing by much faster than they would like…
From the moment Emerson and Theo met as teenagers, they were inseparable. But just when they finally expressed their feelings to one another, they were torn apart.
Now, supermodel Emerson is nearing her twenty-eighth birthday, and she’s tired of looking for love in all the wrong places. When the calendar reminder for the marriage pact she and Theo made as teens goes off on her phone, she realizes this is it―her chance to rekindle the only romance that ever really made sense. Emerson convinces her grumpy agent to book her as the face of the fashion campaign that Theo, now a fashion photographer, is shooting. The good the campaign is being shot in ridiculously romantic Cinque Terre, Italy. The bad news? Theo might not be as happy to see her as she’d hoped.
The two embark on a four-day campaign that tests not only their feelings, but their ability to keep their hands off one another. But as roadblock after roadblock keeps them apart, Emerson starts to will this photoshoot be the key to getting one last shot at love, or will it be a final goodbye?
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for this review. All thoughts on One Last Shot are my own.
Did Not Finish at 6% (21 pages)
I want you to go ahead and read that book description again. Particularly the line “Theo might not be as happy to see her as she’d hoped.” Maybe even read it a third time. Because that is a complete and utter lie.
It didn’t take me long to realize that this book’s description promised something it wasn’t going to fulfill. Because as our two main characters get the notification on their phones that they made a pact to get married on their 28th birthdays, they also both decide to reach out and find the other after a ten year separation.
Go ahead and read that again too, while we’re at it. They BOTH reach out. The second they get the notification.
Now, its one thing for me to misunderstand a book’s description and realize I’ve made a mistake once I hop into it. I’ve done it before, and I’m sure the possibility to do it again is in my future. But if I can misunderstand a book’s intentions and then go back and find the exact line in the book’s description that states very clearly the same thought process I had?
I went into this book with the understanding that Theo didn’t want to see Emerson again, only to immediately be smacked in the face with his very obvious want to reconnect with her. Paired alongside a very stilted writing style and two characters who were weirdly obsessed with each other, I didn’t even want to give this book a chance to wow me despite its lies.
Ellie Greco wishes she weren’t stuck in Milborough. For a few brief, shining years, she escaped her hometown to pursue her dream career—designing beautiful, elaborate costumes for theater—until her father’s death five years ago called her home to run the family’s decades-old deli. Yes, she loves the place, but she’d always thought she was meant for more exciting things than stocking the right tinned fish. But when Ellie hears that a local landlord is planning to rent to Mangia, the glitzy gourmet food department store, Greco’s Deli’s very existence is suddenly in jeopardy.
She tries to plead her case to Theo Taylor, scion of the property management firm about to put her out of business, but their meeting goes from bad (it’s not her fault he’s infuriating) to worse (no one expects the ceiling to literally fall in).
With Theo out cold, Ellie panics and claims to be his fiancée… and almost passes out herself when amnesia means Theo seems to actually believe her. Soon, the effects of the head injury wear off, but Theo proposes that their “engagement” stick around. If they manage to convince enough people they might both get what they an end to the Mangia deal. Ellie doesn’t trust him (after all, if Theo Taylor wants it, how can it be good for her?) but seeing no other option, reluctantly agrees.
And miraculously, the fake engagement seems to be working—even Ted, Theo’s shrewd, cold father seems convinced—that is until Sam, Theo’s ex-fiance, reappears on the scene. Not only does she see through their ruse, she proposes an arrangement of her own, forcing Ellie to decide between blossoming friendship, her family legacy, and the burgeoning romance she frankly never asked for.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for this review. All thoughts on Love You, Mean It are my own.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
While the premise of this book seemed like it would make for a fun and interesting read, the actual story left much to be desired.
Most of this is just because the book needed to be developed further. The first 40% of the book seemed solid, but it quickly began going downhill as we focused more on the characters and their relationship, rather than the setup.
For one, the relationship between Ellie and Theo felt very unfulfilling. Because it is based on a fake engagement, our main character spends a lot of time questioning whether any feelings involved are actually true, which puts a wall up in between what is actually happening and the emotional significance of it. Any “ship-y” scenes between the main characters felt lackluster and disappointing, solely because we as readers don’t get to treat them for what they are with the looming threat of the fake relationship getting in the way of things.
As well, the ending seemed to just fall into place, with our main character “just so happening” to get everything she wanted. Despite an entire novel’s worth of build up and worry over whether or not Ellie can save her family’s business, the book wraps up this conflict in about 30 pages or so, without the involvement of our main character at all!
I think that the idea behind this book would have made for an interesting read, but the actual execution needed to be done a bit better for me to enjoy this book.
Another day, another selection of my favorite quotes from a book I’ve read recently!
Love You, Mean It was an interesting story about a woman trying to save her family’s business by pretending to be engaged to a man with amnesia. But nothing shows off the feeling of a book quite like a group of quotes from it, right?
“A rich white man that doesn’t like being criticized? No.” I pulled a faux-shocked face.
“But I’m definitely better than you.”
Theo grinned widely.
“Sick burn on the head trauma patient.”
“Okay, the nurse is trying to enforce her fascist sleep regimen again.”
“That sounds suspiciously like an insult.”
“How could I ever dream of insulting my dear fiance here at his ancestral manse,” I sing-songed, fluttering my eyelashes Theo’s way for effect.
I decided to let that mollify me (there was a lot of coursed for you ahead of us, after all), then turned to the menu, losing myself in the details of the obscure foodstuffs that had been shaved, whipped, flash-fried, and sprinkled over the top of a protein so deeply heritage, so emphatically sourced, that I was half-surprised we didn’t get a list of hobbies alongside the details of the farm or coastline it had previously called home.
“So? We’re on a timeline, we should get started, right?”
“I love how we’ve never lost the romance,” he deadpanned as he trailed after me into the kitchen, laying the bread and cheese down to start searching for a cutting board.
“When people think of me, the first word that comes to mind is ‘romantic.'”
“Oh? For me it’s ‘salami.'”
“By the way, I love your dress.”
“Oh… thanks. I uh… I made it.”
“So now we’re best friends and as such you’re going to become my personal stylist and couturier. Awesome. I love that about us.”
“You’re the one who wants him as a father in law.”
Sam scrunched her nose in disgust.
“I suppose we all have to make sacrifices.”
“Let me sweeten the pot: I can pay you in salami. The good stuff.”
“Bonuses in dry goods, I’m assuming.”
“Obviously. We offer all the standard benefits at Greco’s.”
Don’t forget sexy arbor day
The most celebrated and sex-focused holiday obvs
Enjoyed these quotes? You should try Love You, Mean It to see the full story!
Ellie Greco wishes she weren’t stuck in Milborough. For a few brief, shining years, she escaped her hometown to pursue her dream career—designing beautiful, elaborate costumes for theater—until her father’s death five years ago called her home to run the family’s decades-old deli. Yes, she loves the place, but she’d always thought she was meant for more exciting things than stocking the right tinned fish. But when Ellie hears that a local landlord is planning to rent to Mangia, the glitzy gourmet food department store, Greco’s Deli’s very existence is suddenly in jeopardy.
She tries to plead her case to Theo Taylor, scion of the property management firm about to put her out of business, but their meeting goes from bad (it’s not her fault he’s infuriating) to worse (no one expects the ceiling to literally fall in).
With Theo out cold, Ellie panics and claims to be his fiancée… and almost passes out herself when amnesia means Theo seems to actually believe her. Soon, the effects of the head injury wear off, but Theo proposes that their “engagement” stick around. If they manage to convince enough people they might both get what they an end to the Mangia deal. Ellie doesn’t trust him (after all, if Theo Taylor wants it, how can it be good for her?) but seeing no other option, reluctantly agrees.
And miraculously, the fake engagement seems to be working—even Ted, Theo’s shrewd, cold father seems convinced—that is until Sam, Theo’s ex-fiance, reappears on the scene. Not only does she see through their ruse, she proposes an arrangement of her own, forcing Ellie to decide between blossoming friendship, her family legacy, and the burgeoning romance she frankly never asked for.
Winning the lottery has ruined Opal Devlin’s’s life. After quitting her dead-end job where she’d earned minimum wage and even less respect, she’s bombarded by people knocking at her door for a handout the second they found out her bank account was overflowing with cash. And Opal can’t seem to stop saying yes.
With her tender heart thoroughly abused, Opal decides to protect herself by any means necessary, which to her translates to putting almost all her new money to buying a failing flower farm in Asheville, North Carolina to let the flowers live out their plant destiny while she uses the cabin on the property to start her painting business.
But her plans for isolation and self-preservation go hopelessly awry when an angry (albeit gorgeous) Pepper Smith is waiting for her at her new farm. Pepper states she’s the rightful owner of Thistle and Bloom Farms, and isn’t moving out. The unlikely pair strike up an agreement of co-habitation, and butt-heads at every turn. Can these opposites both live out their dreams and plant roots? Or will their combustible arguing (and growing attraction) burn the whole place down?
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for this review. All thoughts on Late Bloomer are my own.
Did Not Finish at page 87 (26%)
After reading and absolutely loving Mazey Eddings’ previous book, Tilly In Technicolor, I was excited to get into Late Bloomer and get more of this author’s writing!
Unfortunately, Late Bloomer just didn’t end up being for me.
My first clue that this book wouldn’t be for me came in the form of the characters themselves and their viewpoints on life. Our main character, Opal, wins the lottery and is immediately ambushed by a long list of people coming out of the woodwork to ask her for money. The love interest, Pepper, has recently had to deal with her grandma’s death and soon learns that her beloved flower farm has been sold right out from under her. Both of these characters are in rather low points in their lives and think life is terrible, making for a depressing opening to this book that I honestly wasn’t excited to read.
From this opening, however, a lot of this book seems to balance on a reader’s suspension of disbelief in order to tell it’s story. When Opal and Pepper realize what has happened, the two decide they’re just… going to live together. In the same house. Until Pepper can pay back what Opal paid for the farm. And while I think every genre deserves a certain level of suspension of disbelief in order to make it work, I don’t think contemporary romance can survive on quite this much willful ignorance.
Late Bloomer also relies on insta lust in order to get its characters together. Within pages of Opal and Pepper meeting each other, we’re getting descriptions of their attraction to each other, with longing looks and distractions as one is a little too focused on the others’ body. These two have barely had a conversation, yet they’re already holding themselves back from wanting to sleep with the other? Why is Pepper looking at Opal in that kinda way as Opal is saying “I promise I’m not a serial killer lol”??
I ended up not enjoying myself with the beginning of this book, but stuck with it until I was a quarter of the way through before deciding to say enough was enough and DNFed it.
Cruel tyrant Taxian-jun killed his way to the throne and now reigns as the first ever emperor of the mortal realm. Yet somehow, he is unsatisfied. Left cold and bereft, abandoned by all he held dear, he takes his own life… only to be reborn anew.
Awakening in the body of his younger self–Mo Ran, a disciple of the cultivation sect Sisheng Peak–he discovers the chance to relive his life. This time, he vows to attain the gratification that once eluded him: all who defied him will fall, and never again will they treat him like a dog. His greatest fury is reserved for Chu Wanning, the coldly beautiful and aloofly catlike cultivation teacher who betrayed and thwarted Mo Ran time and again in their last life.
Yet as Mo Ran shamelessly pursues his own goals in this life he thought lost, he begins to wonder if there might be more to his teacher–and his own feelings–than he ever realized.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Back in high school (a whole ten years ago!! I’m old.), a friend and classmate introduced me to xianxia novels. I read her first recommendation–translated into English by fans online and eventually published officially as Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation–and immediately fell in love with the genre, eventually branching out into other stories by similar authors.
All this is to say that The Husky And His White Cat Shizun has been on my list of novels I’ve wanted to read for a while, and I was excited to finally get into it.
Like most other xianxia novels I’ve read, The Husky And His White Cat Shizun has a very funny writing style and interesting main characters that really drew me into wanting to learn more about this world. We follow Mo Ran, who once was emperor of the entire world, as he suddenly finds himself in his teenage body, starting his life over again. While he knows generally what is going on and decides to use this advantage to make his life better than it once was, he is soon surprised to find that everything is not as it seems and even the smallest changes can have a big impact on his own story.
While I enjoyed this author’s writing style and getting to know the characters themselves, I also felt like this first volume didn’t have too much going on plot-wise. I found myself a bit bored by reading this, and it took me a lot longer than I thought it would to get through this story!
Still, I know that novels such as this tend to have slower openings, as we have to cram a lot of information into the beginning in order to set up the story, and I am interested in seeing where The Husky And His White Cat Shizun goes. Hopefully, I have a lot more fun in volume two than I did in volume one!
A lot of the xianxia novels I’ve read in the past have some wild quotes, and I expected The Husky And His White Cat Shizun to have more of the same! Here’s a collection of some of my favorite lines!
The first year was called Ji Ba Yuan Nian, the First Year of Cease Battle–but why did it have to sound like the Year of Cock and Balls?
There was no one else in the room. Thus, after much consideration, the once cruel ruler of the cultivation world, the Despot of Sichuan, Emperor of the Mortal Realm, and Lord of Sisheng Peak, Taxian-jun, Mo Ran himself, expressed his honest thoughts: “Fuck…”
At this, the sleeping Rong Jiu was “fuck”-ed awake.
Fuck all eighteen generations of your ancestors!
Chu Wanning was unaware that his beast of a disciple was going to fuck all eighteen generations of his ancestors.
The more out-of-the way areas had particularly forthright names like This is a Mountain, This is Water, and This is a Hole, as well as the famed Aaaaah and Waaaah Cliffs.
Do you not have eyes?
When he took another look at the ghost attendant’s blank face, he restrained himself. It did not, in fact, have any fucking eyes.
The Yuheng Elder was indeed boss as fuck.
“Shizun, don’t be mad anymore.”
“Which of your eyeballs saw me being mad?” Chu Wanning shot back angrily.
“Aiya, the little gongzi sure is bold. Truly young and courageous, to dare grope even the Yuheng Elder’s ass.”
“Could you please not say it so nauseatingly?” the Qisha Elder said with disdain.
The Lucun Elder gracefully rolled his eyes, humming. “Hm, I’ll say it in a more refined manner, then: truly young and courageous, to dare grope even the Yuheng Elder’s derrière.”
“Get the hell out,” said Chu Wanning.
Mo Ran got the hell in.
And so, on the first day of the Yuheng Elder’s period of confinement, all three of his disciples got the runs from food poisoning.
Neither of them brought up that night. But sometimes, when their eyes met, Mo Ran’s gaze seemed to linger on Chu Wanning a bit longer before they habitually chased after Shi Mei.
And what of Chu Wanning? As soon as his gaze met Mo Ran’s, he would immediately turn coldly away. But when he thought Mo Ran wasn’t looking, he would, as if entirely by accident, steal a second glance.
How deep must an obsession run, for another person to be enmeshed so inextricably in one’s own soul?
That awe-inspiring primal god was actually hundreds of cows?
Am I allowed to say “motherfucker”?
Have you been enjoying these quotes and want more of this chaotic book? Check out The Husky And His White Cat Shizun by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou!
Cruel tyrant Taxian-jun killed his way to the throne and now reigns as the first ever emperor of the mortal realm. Yet somehow, he is unsatisfied. Left cold and bereft, abandoned by all he held dear, he takes his own life…only to be reborn anew.
Awakening in the body of his younger self–Mo Ran, a disciple of the cultivation sect Sisheng Peak–he discovers the chance to relive his life. This time, he vows to attain the gratification that once eluded him: all who defied him will fall, and never again will they treat him like a dog. His greatest fury is reserved for Chu Wanning, the coldly beautiful and aloofly catlike cultivation teacher who betrayed and thwarted Mo Ran time and again in their last life.
Yet as Mo Ran shamelessly pursues his own goals in this life he thought lost, he begins to wonder if there might be more to his teacher–and his own feelings–than he ever realized.
Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of—that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life.
Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines of dugout benches and roadie buses, they begrudgingly rediscover a comfortable rhythm. As the two grow closer, the tension between them turns electric, and their chemistry spills past the confines of the stadium. For every tight double play they execute, there’s also a glance at summer-tan shoulders or a secret shared, each one a breathless moment of possibility that ignites in Gene the visceral, terrifying kind of desire he’s never allowed himself. Soon, Gene has to reconcile the quiet, minor-league-sized life he used to find fulfilling with the major-league dreams Luis makes feel possible.
I received an ARC of The Prospects, which was published April 9, 2024.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I don’t know if anyone out there has had the same anime-to-books experience I have, but I’m sure a few readers will understand the sort of vibes I mean when I say this book feels like a sports anime.
And for those who don’t, I’ll try to explain it the best I can:
Sports anime are typically very character-focused, rather than focused on the sport itself. Sure, there are bits and pieces of the sport (it’s what our plot is based on), but it’s mostly about the characters growing into their abilities as players and connecting with their teammates.
Sports anime are also, typically, a little bit gay.
The Prospects also fits this sort of description. It’s undoubtedly a book about sports, being centered around a minor league baseball team, but it’s not about the sports as much as you’d think it is. It’s about Gene and Luis and their teammates, and the personal problems they have alongside the season. Love and family and careers and, above all, sticking together no matter what.
I really loved the LGBT elements in The Prospects. For one, we have the relationship between Gene and Luis, which I immediately fell in love with. Despite the two being “rivals” playing the same position, it was easy to tell, even early on, that these two were there for each other. They supported each other, even if they didn’t want to admit it, and that made for a very wholesome read.
But I also loved the way this book treated Gene being trans. As a trans reader myself, I’ve complained in the past about books just not getting it. Making their trans characters have these totally awful, completely transphobic experiences like that’s the only sort of experience a trans character can have. It’s hard to find trans stories where the main character happens to be trans, rather than the entire story being about them being trans, but The Prospects ended up being the perfect example of what I want in a story like this! Gene is trans, and maybe sometimes he has to deal transphobia or has issues with just existing as a trans person, but ultimately, that’s not his story in it’s entirety.
The best example of this is a scene in which Gene has to use his government name in order to sign up for something. In the scene, another character is nearby and, respecting Gene, turns to look away as he types in his government name. At no point do readers learn what Gene’s birth name is, nor is the scene made into a big deal, but the way the author treats it and the idea that sometimes, trans people don’t officially change their name on governmental records really stood out to me!
In all, I really liked The Prospects and the way this author wrote the story! Meeting these characters and seeing the way they interacted with each other–whether in the main romance or in friendships–made for a very enjoyable read, and I’ll be looking forward to K.T. Hoffman’s other works in the future!
Here’s a new post type for y’all: a collection of my favorite quotes from books I’ve read.
I love being able to flip through a book and find the most unhinged sentences I can. Hopefully these will help you decide to pick up The Prospects by K.T. Hoffman as well!
“You can’t be mean to me on my birthday.”
He’s the thorn in Gene’s side, the popcorn kernel stuck between his teeth, the crack in his ass–and still somehow the blandest man alive.
The team’s sturdy, steady outfielders are as sturdy and steady as they’ve always been
They’re good shoulders, if Gene is honest with himself, which he would really rather not be about this, but there’s the thought anyway, persistently gay: they’re good shoulders.
“Well, you know we want kids.”
“You and me? I don’t remember that conversation.”
Vince rolls his eyes.
“I hope you still like Kermit,” he says, setting the phone on the lip of the tub. “Rainbow Connection” strums its banjo introduction out, the volume as low as Gene can get it.
Luis glances over at him. Gene notes that Luis’s grip on his elbows has darkened from white-knuckled to a few shades closer to his usual brown. Progress.
“Oh, fuck you,” Luis says, and Gene can’t help but crack a smile about it.
“So you do still like Kermit?”
Luis sighs the kind of put-upon sigh, a little huff of annoyance, that betrays that he does find Gene at least mildly amusing. “I do not have a crush on a Muppet.”
Gene doesn’t smile a secret little smile. “Sure,” he says. “Totally. It’s just that, that’s exactly what a person who has a crush on a Muppet would say.”
“This is a novel idea, but we could try to catch the ball.”
“Well, then I’ll see you later if you haven’t killed each other,” he says.
“I’ll do my best.”
“To kill him or not to?”
Gene shrugs.
Luis smiles. Does he know what that smile does to a defenseless homosexual?
“Which mascot would you fuck if you had to fuck one of them?” Gene asks.
Luis rolls his eyes so hard his head tips back against the headrest. “That’s so gross, dude. You had that question ready.”
Gene wanted to let Luis set his discomfort aside for a moment. This gets the job done. “It’s gotta be the Philly Phanatic,” Gene says.
“Disgusting.”
“Why?”
“What even is he?”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s about the extendable tongue,” Gene says.
“Is he, like, your platonic sugar daddy or something?”
“F,” Luis starts, and Gene can think of a lot of words that start with that particular letter that he’d like to hear Luis say, “is for Nes having the fattest ass on the team.”
Gene possesses no thoughts whatsoever other than okay, but in all capitals, yelled with the most enthusiasm he has ever felt in his life.
“How do I say it?” he asks the dashboard.
“‘Hi, Ma. I like to touch men sexually. What are you cooking, you need any help?'”
“No.”
“You eat me out pretty enthusiastically for someone who isn’t into me.”
“I’ll stop teasing.”
“You won’t.”
“Probably not.”
Then Dodger shuffles past them and plops onto a dog bed, in the perfect outline of himself, before letting out a put-upon sigh.
“We’re up past his bedtime,” Luis says.
“Apparently.”
“Sorry, do you need more ambiance for me to blow you?”
Gene doesn’t bother trying not to feel smug about it. He will be smug about this until he dies, thanks very much.
“So, I fell apart because I imagined some problems. Which is very on brand for me.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
Gene, leaning against the bar, raises his eyebrows at Vince. “I’m going to tell your husband that you’re hitting on me.”
“I’m not hitting on you. I’m old and tired.”
“Any curves?”
“Only my ass.”
“If you tell me you love me, too, I’ll kill you.”
“Excuse me!” When Luis says it, it comes out undignified, perfect. “Who says I do?”
“No plans after that?”
“I think I want to not have a plan for the first time in my life.”
He’ll have a plan by the end of next week, but Gene loves him for it.
“Vibe check,” Gene says. The words come out 90 percent cracks.
Luis lets out a long, pursed puff of air, and Gene can imagine his eyes wide and staring up at the ceiling.
“That good?” he asks.
“Yep.”
Watching Luis slip his boots on, a curl falling onto his forehead and the early-afternoon sun bright through the windows, Gene knows–he will always want this lanky, anxious, beautiful dumbass.
Want more? Check out The Prospects by K.T. Hoffman!
Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of—that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life.
Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines of dugout benches and roadie buses, they begrudgingly rediscover a comfortable rhythm. As the two grow closer, the tension between them turns electric, and their chemistry spills past the confines of the stadium. For every tight double play they execute, there’s also a glance at summer-tan shoulders or a secret shared, each one a breathless moment of possibility that ignites in Gene the visceral, terrifying kind of desire he’s never allowed himself. Soon, Gene has to reconcile the quiet, minor-league-sized life he used to find fulfilling with the major-league dreams Luis makes feel possible.
With my (quite long) break from the bookish world, the list of Advanced Reader Copies I’ve received and need to review has only grown. Here’s a list of books you’ll see me review in the coming months as I try to catch up!
Minor leagues. Major chemistry.
Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of—that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life.
Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines of dugout benches and roadie buses, they begrudgingly rediscover a comfortable rhythm. As the two grow closer, the tension between them turns electric, and their chemistry spills past the confines of the stadium. For every tight double play they execute, there’s also a glance at summer-tan shoulders or a secret shared, each one a breathless moment of possibility that ignites in Gene the visceral, terrifying kind of desire he’s never allowed himself. Soon, Gene has to reconcile the quiet, minor-league-sized life he used to find fulfilling with the major-league dreams Luis inspires.
This triumphant debut romance reveals what’s possible when we allow ourselves to want something enough to swing for the fences.
Publication Date: April 9, 2024
I’ve seen The Prospects quite a bit on my slow return to bookish social media, and a lot of that has been readers absolutely gushing over this story! With it’s queer story featuring a rivals-to-lovers sports romance, I’m really excited to read it myself and see what this book has to offer!
Winning the lottery has ruined Opal Devlin’s life. After quitting her dead-end job where she’d earned minimum wage and even less respect, she’s bombarded by people knocking at her door for a handout the second they found out her bank account was overflowing with cash. And Opal can’t seem to stop saying yes.
With her tender heart thoroughly abused, Opal decides to protect herself by any means necessary, which to her translates to putting almost all her new money to buying a failing flower farm in Asheville, North Carolina to let the flowers live out their plant destiny while she uses the cabin on the property to start her painting business.
But her plans for isolation and self-preservation go hopelessly awry when an angry (albeit gorgeous) Pepper Boden is waiting for her at her new farm. Pepper states she’s the rightful owner of Thistle and Bloom Farms, and isn’t moving out. The unlikely pair strike up an agreement of co-habitation, and butt heads at every turn. Can these opposites both live out their dreams and plant roots? Or will their combustible arguing (and growing attraction) burn the whole place down?
Publication Date: April 16, 2024
I really loved Tilly In Technicolor, Mazey Eddings’ previous book, for the way the characters were written and their relationships with not only each other, but the others around them. I’d love to read more of this author’s writing, and Late Bloomer is my chance! Plus, y’all know I love a good opposites attract romance with arguing (and hopefully some banter).
Ellie Greco wishes she weren’t stuck in Milborough. For a few brief, shining years, she escaped her hometown to pursue her dream career—designing beautiful, elaborate costumes for theater—until her father’s death five years ago called her home to run the family’s decades-old deli. Yes, she loves the place, but she’d always thought she was meant for more exciting things than stocking the right tinned fish. But when Ellie hears that a local landlord is planning to rent to Mangia, the glitzy gourmet food department store, the very existence of Greco’s Deli is suddenly in jeopardy.
She tries to plead her case to Theo Taylor, scion of the property management firm that is about to put her out of business, but their meeting goes from bad (it’s not her fault he’s infuriating) to worse (no one expects the ceiling to literally fall in).
With Theo out cold, Ellie panics and claims to be his fiancée . . . and almost passes out herself when amnesia means Theo seems to actually believe her. Soon, the effects of the head injury wear off, but Theo proposes that their “engagement” stick around. If they manage to convince enough people, they might both get what they want: an end to the Mangia deal. Ellie doesn’t trust him (after all, if Theo Taylor wants it, how can it be good for her?) but seeing no other option, she reluctantly agrees.
And miraculously, the fake engagement seems to be working—even Ted, Theo’s shrewd, cold father seems convinced—that is, until Sam, Theo’s ex-fiancée, reappears on the scene. Not only does she see through their ruse, but she proposes an arrangement of her own, forcing Ellie to decide between a blossoming friendship, her family legacy, and the burgeoning romance she frankly never asked for.
Publication Date: April 30, 2024
Does this not sound like the perfect book for me? They literally hate each other in their first meeting, but they’ll fall in love? One of them gets amnesia (very 10 Things That Never Happened-core), but decides to stick around for the fake engagement??
This is one of those books I’m really excited for and hoping I’ll give a perfect five stars.
From the moment Emerson and Theo met as teenagers, they were inseparable. But just when they finally expressed their feelings to one another, they were torn apart.
Now, supermodel Emerson is nearing her twenty-eighth birthday, and she’s tired of looking for love in all the wrong places. When the calendar reminder for the marriage pact she and Theo made as teens goes off on her phone, she realizes this is it—her chance to rekindle the only romance that ever really made sense. Emerson convinces her grumpy agent to book her as the face of the fashion campaign that Theo, now a fashion photographer, is shooting. The good news: the campaign is being shot in ridiculously romantic Cinque Terre, Italy. The bad news? Theo might not be as happy to see her as she’d hoped.
The two embark on a four-day campaign that tests not only their feelings, but their ability to keep their hands off one another. But as roadblock after roadblock keeps them apart, Emerson starts to wonder: will this photoshoot be the key to getting one last shot at love, or will it be a final goodbye?
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Not gonna lie with y’all: if I wasn’t offered an ARC of this book, I’m not sure I would pick it up myself.
It’s entirely based on the cover, which I know we’re technically not supposed to judge a book by, but we all definitely do. It’s just… not my style. Looks like something someone twice my age would read.
Which is particularly humorous when you realize I’m only a year younger than the main character.
That being said, the idea of a marriage pact seems interesting. I don’t read many of those, and the fact that the love interest wants nothing to do with the main character is… well, exactly what I look for in books, to be honest.
I don’t know. I’m neutral about this one so far.
What makes a girl “beastly?” Is it having too much ambition? Being too proud? Taking up too much space? Or is it just wanting something, anything, too badly?
That’s the problem Arabella faces when she makes her debut in society. Her parents want her to be sweet and compliant so she can marry well, but try as she might, Arabella can’t extinguish the fire burning inside her — the source of her deepest wishes, her wildest dreams.
When an attempt to suppress her emotions tragically backfires, a mysterious figure punishes Arabella with a curse, dooming her and everyone she cares about, trapping them in the castle. As the years pass, Arabella abandons hope. The curse is her fault — after all, there’s nothing more “beastly” than a girl who expresses her anger — and the only way to break it is to find a boy who loves her for her true self: a cruel task for a girl who’s been told she’s impossible to love.
When a handsome thief named Beau makes his way into the castle, the captive servants are thrilled, convinced he is the one to break the curse. But Beau — spooked by the castle’s strange and forbidding ladies-in-waiting, and by the malevolent presence that stalks its corridors at night — only wants to escape. He learned long ago that love is only an illusion. If Beau and Arabella have any hope of breaking the curse, they must learn to trust their wounded hearts, and realize that the cruelest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves.
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Beauty And The Beast but genderbent? I am intrigued.
Though I find myself with nothing more to say on the thought of actually getting to read the book. The idea is interesting and I’m okay with picking it up, but that’s all I feel so far.
We’ll have to see if Beastly Beauty is a hidden fav or a neutral read.
Natalie Hart has always been loud, unfiltered, and unapologetically herself. But then comes her freshman year of college, when she loses her merit scholarship and gains one pesky little anxiety diagnosis.
Hesitant to take out more student loans, Natalie decides to shoot her shot and applies to Wild Adventures, a popular outdoorsy reality show. Sure, Natalie prefers her twelve-step skincare routine to roughing it on the Appalachian Trail while competing in challenges against other college kids, but that scholarship prize money is calling her name. High risk, high reward, right?
Enter Finn Markum, her randomly assigned, capital-O Outdoorsy teammate whose growl could rival a black bear. These partners have more friction than a pair of new hiking boots. Or is it flirtation? Turns out falling in love might be the wildest adventure of all…
Publication Date: May 21, 2024
His “growl could rival a black bear.” That is all.
No, I’m kidding (though that line was a big draw to why I wanted this book). This book just seems to check all the boxes of stories I’ve enjoyed in the past, and I’m interested in seeing how it goes! These two opposites obviously aren’t going to like each other, but the description teases a bit of flirtation going on between our two leads, and I’m ready to see this wild ride for myself.
… get it? Wild ride? *waggles my eyebrows*
Sage Byrd has lived in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) her entire life. She’s learned to love her small world, with the misfit animals on her hobby farm, and her friendships with the town’s inhabitants. But when her 5-year relationship ends and her ex, town-golden-boy Ian, suddenly gets engaged, Sage needs a win—something that will convince everyone to stop pitying her all the time, and to put Ian in his place. The Festival of Spunes, the town’s annual summer competition, would be the perfect opportunity. She just needs a partner.
Fisher Lange was a hotshot chef in New York City until the loss of his sister left him numb, grieving, and responsible for his teenage niece Indy. When Fisher loses his Michelin star along with his love of cooking, his boss sends him and Indy to Spunes on a much-needed summer sabbatical to consult on a restaurant opening. But when clashes with the townspeople threaten his last chance to redeem himself and a kiss with his new neighbor Sage leads to dating rumors, a strategic alliance might just be the best way to turn things around.
A deal is struck. Sage will improve Fisher’s image in the eyes of the town and remove the roadblocks he is facing with the restaurant, and Fisher will be Sage’s partner for the competition. But as their pact quickly turns into steamy rendezvous, emotional wounds begin to heal, and the pair tries to savor every moment, they start to realize that summer is racing by much faster than they would like…
Publication Date: May 21, 2024
Okay, so this one is mostly about the cover for me so far. I love a good illustrated cover (without the characters looking too blocky, y’know?), and the colors on this cover in particular are really calling out to me.
The description itself sounds really Hallmark-y, which could be a good thing. Could be a bad thing. I’m interested in seeing just what Fisher did to make the townspeople hate him, but overall, I am… optimistically neutral.
Wyn is going to beat Three even if it kills her—or, preferably, him. Being freshmen staffers on the university newspaper puts them at the bottom of the pecking order—until a rare reporter spot opens up. Wyn and Three are both determined to get the position, starting a game of sabotage that pushes them to do their worst, from stealing each other’s ideas to playing twisted mind games. No road is too low when it comes to winning.
As Wyn’s search for the perfect story leads her to an anonymous, campus-wide dating app, she hits it off with a mystery man she thinks might be the cute RA from her dorm. But Wyn is all too familiar with being rejected because of her weight, and she’s hesitant to reveal her identity, even as she grows closer with someone who might be the guy of her dreams.
When Three breaks a story that’s closer to home than he or Wyn expects, the two must put aside their differences to expose the truth—and face their real feelings for each other, which threaten everything Wyn has built with her anonymous match.
Publication Date: June 11, 2024
A few years ago, I got an ARC of This May End Badly by Samantha Markum and absolutely loved it! And while I really liked Wells, the love interest of This May End Badly, I was drawn more to Three and wished Three would get a book of his own.
Y’all. Love, Off The Record is that book. Three’s book.
THREE’S BOOK!!!!
And it sounds so good??? Rivals to lovers with an anonymous chatting app that is definitely going to pull them together? I RAN to request this book, and I’m still so overjoyed to have received an ARC of it!
Reeling from a breakup with her long-term partner, Gray—an optimistic lesbian Aries—relocates to New Orleans for a new job. Gray wants to meet someone, settle down, and build the loving, accepting family she’s always wanted, but having been out of the dating scene for a decade, she has no idea where to start. After visiting an iconic astrologer, Gray and her best friend, Cherry, draw up a dramatic scheme: Gray will go on a date with someone of each zodiac sign to test their compatibility and get a jump start on creating the queer family of her dreams—all before her twenty-ninth birthday, when Saturn will usher in a major turning point in her life.
Gray’s got her hands full getting to know her new city, proving herself at her new job, wooing twelve new paramours—cue bathroom hookups, ghosts, getting ghosted, incredible macchiatos, and celesbians—and making some surprising discoveries about her needs and desires. Even when the dating challenge throws a few curveballs that make Gray question what she believes that she’s destined for, she’s determined to finish what she’s started while the planets are still on her side.
Publication Date: June 11, 2024
Okay, to be completely honest, this is another one of those ARCs I grabbed just because it was offered to me. BUT I am interested in seeing our main character go on twelve dates with twelve different zodiac signs and seeing how that goes. Do they fit their horoscopes? Which one is “better”, and which one does she choose?
Marlowe Meadows understands a lot of things. She understands that calculus isn’t overwhelmingly beautiful to everyone, and that it typically kills the mood when you try to talk Python coding over beer pong. She understands that people were surprised when golden boy Josh asked her out and she went from weird, math-obsessed Marlowe to half of their school’s couple goals. Unfortunately, Marlowe was the one surprised when Josh dumped her because he’d prefer a girlfriend who’s more romantic. One with emotional depth.
But Marlowe has never failed anything in her life, and she isn’t about to start now. When she’s paired with Ashton Hayes for an English project, his black clothing and moody eyeliner cause a bit of a systems overload, and the dissonant sounds of his rock band make her brain itch. But when she discovers Ash’s hidden stash of love songs, Marlowe makes a desperate deal to unleash her inner romantic heroine: if Ash will agree to help her write some love letters to win back Josh, she’ll calculate the perfect data analytics formula to make Ash’s band go viral.
As the semester heats up with yearning love notes, a syllabus of romance novels, and late nights spent with a boy who escapes any box her brain tries to put him in, Marlowe starts to question if there’s really a set solution to love. Could a girl who’s never met a problem she can’t solve have gotten the math so massively wrong?
Publication Date: June 18, 2024
In an effort to read a book that gives me the same feelings Long Story Short did a couple years ago, I ran to request a copy of The Calculation Of You And Me, the newest book by the same author.
I’m excited to see if this book has the same sort of vibes Long Story Short did, but I’m sure I’ll love this book even if it doesn’t, since its by the same author!
Cash Delgado has a good life in the quaint town of Ridley Falls. She has Joyce’s Bar, where she manages a familiar group of regulars and emcees the ever-popular Karaoke Thursday. She has her six-year-old daughter, Parker, whose spunky attitude always keeps life interesting. And she has her best friend, Inez O’Conner, who improves Cash’s sometimes overly responsible outlook with one full of joy and potential.
But change is on the horizon when Chase Stanton, the former bar manager at Joyce’s (not to mention Cash’s last hookup), returns to town with business prospects that could threaten the local institution and all of Cash’s plans to someday bring new life to the place. And if that isn’t enough, Cash starts having very intimate dreams of Inez. Dreams that could threaten the foundation of her well-ordered life.
As Cash embarks on a reluctant journey of self-discovery, she’s forced to confront all the ways she’s been hiding in her own life. But will she choose to remain the same, or will the desire for love (even a love that looks different than she ever imagined) prove worth the risk?
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Tehlor Kay Mejia made me cry last year with Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review, and apparently publishers want to see me do it again, because they gave me an ARC of Tehlor Kay Mejia’s next book.
I’m not sure how to feel about Cash Delgado, though, to be fair, I also wasn’t sure about Sammy Espinoza. It’s not a book that I would pick up for myself, but I’m always open to getting recommended new books I may love, especially from publishers who have given me solid recommendations in the past.
Margaret Dashwood lives her life according to plan, and it involves absolutely zero heartbreak, thank you very much. Five years ago, love tore her family apart, and since then, she’s kept her own heart as safe as possible. It hasn’t been easy, especially since her sister Marianne—the world’s biggest romantic—has conveniently forgotten that love burned her so badly she literally almost died. So when their oldest sister Elinor invites Margaret along for a Marianne-free summer cruise, she can’t wait to soak up every scheduled moment with sensible Elinor before heading off to college.
But just before they set sail, a newly-single Marianne announces that she’s crashing their vacation. Suddenly, Margaret’s itineraries are thrown overboard, and the ship’s cabin feels even tinier with her sister wailing about her breakup from the bottom bunk. The only solution? Find Marianne a dose of love to tide her over until they reach land.
With help from Elinor, her husband Edward, and Gabe—a distractingly handsome new friend on the crew—Margaret sets out to create a series of elaborate fake dates that will give Marianne the spontaneously curated summer romance of a lifetime. But between a chaotic sister, the growing storm of feelings between Margaret and Gabe, and an actual storm on the horizon, this summer is destined to go off course. Margaret will have to decide what’s more important—following the plan, or following her heart.
Publication Date: July 16, 2024
It’s another of Amanda Quain’s Jane Austen retellings. At this point, who am I if I don’t try it out?
Like Accomplished and Ghosted, I don’t know much about the source material, but I do know that Amanda Quain has yet to write a book I haven’t enjoyed, and I’m willing to take another chance on her retellings.
Emma has been a thorn in Caleb’s side since middle school. Having tarnished their friendship in eighth grade, she’s now little more to him than an unkempt, unruly, disastrous bisexual mess. Over the years, she’s gotten in the way of every romantic relationship he’s attempted to settle into, using little more than mischievous charisma to lure them into her clutches.
To Emma, Caleb sets the record for World’s Largest Stick in the Mud. Uptight, unbearably tidy, and a rule-follower, he’s exactly the kind of boring person her mother wishes she was. When she discovers they’re both after Juliet, the new girl, Emma proposes a competition to nudge him out of the way. Whoever can get Juliet to kiss them first wins, and the opposition must bow out with the promise of never talking to her again.
But plans go awry when Juliet seems mostly interested in hanging out with both of them together. Emma and Caleb just have to figure out whether winning Juliet’s heart is worth the torment of constantly dealing with each other, and the risk of reopening wounds from a past they thought they had left behind.
Publication Date: July 23, 2024
This cover is GORGEOUS, and I wanted to pick it up for that reason alone.
It doesn’t help that I think the idea of two rivals falling in love with each other after competing to get a girl to like them is absurdly funny, as well. I’m cheering on Juliet already, and I haven’t even met her!
Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other’s lives once and for all.
Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It’s in the past.
All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.
It’s not until they board the tour bus that they discover they’ve both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they’re trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It’s fine. There’s nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?
But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can’t have.
Publication Date:August 6, 2024
I find it humorous when I read books with main characters who have the same first name as me. I’ve also enjoyed Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston in the past, so it seems reasonable that I will enjoy The Pairing.
Plus, as I just said with Exes & Foes, the idea of a competition going so horribly wrong that the competitors fall in love with each other instead of the people they’re trying to get with makes me laugh.
June and Levi were best friends as teenagers—until the day they weren’t. Now June is struggling to make rent on her beachside tea shop, Levi is living a New York cliché as a disillusioned hedge fund manager and failed novelist, and they’ve barely spoken in years.
But after they both experience public, humiliating break-ups with their exes that spread like wildfire across TikTok rabbit holes and daytime talk shows alike, they accidentally make some juicy gossip of their own—a photo of them together has the internet convinced they’re a couple. With so many people rooting for them, they decide to put aside their rocky past and make a pact to fuel the fire. Pretending to date will help June’s shop get back on its feet and make Levi’s ex realize that she made a mistake. All they have to do is convince the world they’re in love, one swoon-worthy photo opp at a time.
Two viral break-ups. One fake relationship. Five sparkling, heart-pounding dates. June and Levi can definitely pull this off without their hearts getting involved. Because everyone knows fake dating doesn’t come with real feelings. Right?
Publication Date: August 13, 2024
It’s Dilemma Lord. Say less.
I’ve read everysinglebookby this author, and there has only ever been one I wasn’t a fan of. Even then, I didn’t hate it. It just wasn’t my thing.
So there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that I was going to try for an ARC of Emma Lord’s newest book. And there is absolutely no doubt that I’m going to love The Break-Up Pact!
Newly divorced on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Brynn is sick of heartbreak. She thought she had found her happy ending, but now she’s living with a roommate, Josh, to afford her mortgage, and she’s trying to adjust to her new single life. At least she’s got Carson’s Cove to binge, her beloved 2000s teenage soap. The show ended unexpectantly on a cliffhanger after five seasons, and the two main characters, Sloan and Spencer, never got to declare their love for each other. The show is still perfect in Brynn’s eyes; despite all the drama that goes down, things always have a way of working out in Carson’s Cove . . . unlike her own life.
So when a birthday cake surprisingly shows up on her and Josh’s doorstep, Brynn makes a wish for the one thing she’s always wanted (but has failed to achieve herself): a happily-ever-after.
The next morning, she doesn’t wake up in her apartment. She’s in Carson’s Cove . . . and Josh is there too. Everyone seems to know them, except they’re not Brynn and Josh; they’re Sloan, the sweetheart of Carson’s Cove, and Fletch, the town’s bad boy. And to get home, they have to make Brynn’s wish come true by ensuring Sloan and Spencer, the hometown heartthrob, end up together at last. But as they spend more time together, Brynn and Josh realize that Carson’s Cove might not be as perfect as seen on television . . . especially when they start developing feelings for each other in a plot twist no one has expected. Will they stick to the script, or will real love change the story forever?
Publication Date: September 3, 2024
Imagine loving a story so much that you wake up in the world of that story.
Literally my dream.
The idea that not only you, but your roommate gets trapped in the world of your favorite story? And now you have to work together to fix the plot?
I’m actually incredibly excited to get to this story.
Ellie Wasserman’s life is neat and tidy, and that’s exactly how she wants it. Really. A top ghostwriter for celebrity cookbooks, she was widowed three years ago and has no interest in taking chances—not on writing her own cookbook, not on telling her still-grieving in-laws she wants to move out, and certainly not on dating, which is about as intimidating as a recipe with fifty steps.
Kieran O’Neill isn’t known for being organized. An up-and-coming chef who scored big on a reality television competition, he’s been the guy who cracks jokes and makes messes—something his chilly family has never let him forget. The only place he feels truly capable is at the stove. But when he’s paired with an uptight ghostwriter with cool blue eyes and distracting curves to write his debut cookbook, she shreds his class clown act like a paring knife cuts an orange peel.
As Ellie and Kieran are forced to work closely together in a hot kitchen for weeks on end, their sharp edges and harsh judgments slowly soften and sweeten into a wildly delicious attraction. Long, steamy days turn into even steamier nights, but they have to face their painful pasts to know if this tender new love can transform into something lasting.
Publication Date: September 24, 2024
Another book where the cover made me instantly want to grab it, The Slowest Burn also has an amazing title and a plot that reminds me of other books I’ve read in the past and really enjoyed. Will this one be similar? We’ll have to wait and see…
When Cassandra Camberwell returns to her hometown of Hollow Brook to clear out her late grandmother’s ramshackle old house, the last thing she expects is Seth Brubaker on her doorstep. Her former best friend was responsible for the worst moment of her high school life, and she can’t imagine he wants to do anything but torment her all over again.
Until she unearths the real reason this annoyingly gorgeous beast of a man keeps hanging around: he’s an actual werewolf, who’s certain she’s the witch that will ease his suffering. But Cassie just isn’t sure if she can trust him again. So Seth offers a pact: he’ll teach her all about her undiscovered magic, and she will brew the potions he needs. No feelings, no funny business, just a witch and a werewolf striking a deal.
Totally doable. Until they get hit with a do-or-die mating bond. And now the heat is rising, in between fights with former bullies and encounters with talking raccoons. They just have to not give in. Unless giving in just might be the very thing they never knew they always wanted.
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
It’s my life’s goal at this point to get fucked by a werewolf. And since werewolves aren’t real (unless they are and I just don’t know about it, in which case, hmu 👀), I have to live vicariously through books.
Basically what I’m saying is Cassandra Camberwell is living my dream and I’m jealous, but not jealous enough to have not wanted an ARC of this book.
After a long absence, 18-year-old Jasper is finally heading home for the holidays – and she’s keeping secrets.
Arthur, a budding filmmaker, is turning the town of Lake Pristine into a small town story worthy of the big screen. His plans are disrupted by the arrival of the town’s golden girl – the antagonist of his school days; a girl he’s never forgotten.
Jasper Montgomery is back in Lake Pristine for one reason: to say goodbye. But before long small-town tensions start to rise, and a certain brooding film buff starts to look like a very big reason to stay…
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
She’s “the antagonist of his school days”. He’s “a certain brooding film buff” who looks like a reason to stay. I’m easily pleased.
Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.
Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.
Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.
Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
I really liked Ann Liang’s previous book, If You Could See The Sun, but this is nothing like If You Could See The Sun. Instead, A Song To Drown Rivers seems to be an epic, high fantasy sort of book, and I’m intrigued to see whether Ann Liang can pull off both contemporary romance and high fantasy.
It’s been months since horror author Penelope Skinner threw a book at Neil Storm. But he was so infuriating, with his sparkling green eyes and his bestselling horror novels that claimed to break Native stereotypes. And now she’s a publishing pariah and hasn’t been able to write a word since. So when her friend invites her on a too-good-to-be-true writers retreat in a supposedly haunted Scottish castle, she seizes the opportunity. Of course, some things really are too good to be true.
Neil wants nothing less than to be trapped in a castle with the frustratingly adorable woman who threw a book at him. She drew blood! Worse still, she unleashed a serious case of self-doubt! Neil is terrified to write another bestselling “book without a soul,” as Pen called it. All Neil wants is to find inspiration, while completely avoiding her.
But as the retreat begins, Pen and Neil are stunned to find themselves trapped in a real-life ghost story. Even more horrifying, they’re stuck together and a truly shocking (extremely hot) almost-kiss has left them rethinking their feelings, and… maybe they shouldn’t have been enemies at all? But if they can’t stop the ghosts pursuing them, they may never have the chance to find out.
Publication Date: October 15, 2024
(Hey! That’s my birthday!)
“Enemies”. She “threw a book at his head”. She’s “frustratingly adorable”.
I’m telling you guys, I’m so easy to please.
Josephine Davis has spent her entire twenties building Revenant, a fashion brand headquartered in downtown Austin. When her biggest investor orders Josie to hire a consultant, the last person she expects to be working with is Will Grant – the twin brother of her ex best friend.
Sure, Will and Josie may have shared one mistake of a kiss during senior spring break nine years ago, but they’ve never been friends. She remembers him as moody; he always thought of her as shallow. Romance isn’t on the table for either of them until they blink, and realize there’s a reason they can’t stay away from each other.
But there’s Will’s sister to consider, whom Josie hasn’t spoken with since their falling out. Not to mention, Will and Josie live seventeen hundred miles apart. And it’s not like she has time for a boyfriend anyway when she’s an overworked CEO. As Josie’s burnout looms while she falls deeper and harder for Will, she contends with the fact that eventually, she’ll have to make a choice: stay alone to be productive, or slow down to be in love.
Publication Date: October 29, 2024
I read Love Interest, Clare Gilmore’s previous book, and ended up really enjoying it, so it seems perfectly reasonable to assume I’ll like Clare Gilmore’s new book, Perfect Fit.
Also, he’s moody, definitely not someone she should fall in love with, and they’ve kissed in the past.
Say it with me: “Kit is easy to please.”
And that’s every book I currently have an advanced reader copy for! Quite the long list, wouldn’t you say?
I’m going to be working hard on getting all of these books read as soon as I can, but let me know: which books are you the most interested in seeing? Are there any in particular I should be excited to read?
KiiitasticBooks 