Amanda
(3.5, rounding up.) Cute enemies-to-lovers story that can easily be read as a standalone. Not as much fun as [b:There's Something About Sweetie 35583527 There's Something About Sweetie (Dimple and Rishi, #2) Sandhya Menon https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539796761l/35583527.SY75.jpg 57017289], which is my favorite in this series, but still extremely worth the time. (Side note: please do not adopt a wild baby possum, they're not pets and I'm pretty sure they can carry rabies.)(2021 Summer Romance Bingo: fake dating, could work loosely for construction, would also work for non-Christmas holiday.)
😍😍😍 4.5 stars, rounding up. The fat acceptance aspects of this were a little 101 for me, but I'm not the target audience here and I'm sure that there are a lot of readers that need to hear that, so it's not a big deal (though I will recommend [b:The Summer of Jordi Pérez 31246717 The Summer of Jordi Pérez (And the Best Burger in Los Ángeles) Amy Spalding https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1523305710l/31246717.SX50.jpg 51900047] as a contemporary YA with a fat heroine that's a little more advanced on that front.) ANYWAY. I love Sweetie and her friends and her complicated relationship with her mother and her Indian heritage. Ashish was a little more frustrating, but he's probably a convincing teenage boy in that respect? Everything Sandhya Menon writes is delightful, but I think this one is my favorite of them all. So far, at least.(2019 summer romance bingo: “prom”; could also count for “title includes character's name.”)
Well, this was a hell of a book to finish on the night before the midterms. I hope the paperback has an additional chapter about the midterms and the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, because my god, this stuff just never stops anymore, does it? I love the intersectional perspective here and the specific callouts to white women in particular - one section heading is “What's Wrong With White Women?”, which made me laugh out loud. This fight has been going on for a long time, even though a lot of WW only seemed to realize it in November 2016 - the history here is really great and encouraging, even as it points out how few past activists lived to see the changes they fought for come to pass. Traister is one of my favorite political writers and her insight here is as on point as ever.
Alyssa Cole is firmly at the top of my must-read list now, between the Reluctant Royals series and this one. This is a little lighter on the romance than the others in this series, with both main characters having to do work on themselves before they're ready for a relationship, and most of that work occurring as they're on a road trip to Mississippi as Union spies (basically). Janeta was a fascinating lead and I really enjoyed her journey in this book from pampered daughter (who's still an outsider in her family) to finding her talents and valuing herself. Daniel was somewhat less compelling as a character - he was so hostile and closed off in the beginning (understandably so) that it was harder for me to relate to him. I want to go back and reread the other two in this series now, but this one is (I think) my favorite.
I loved the first book in this series, but this one was even better! I loved the slow burn of the first half in particular, but the entire book was incredible. I'm embarrassed that I didn't know about the Southern resistance to the Confederacy (besides a little about the Underground Railroad), but I did take US History in a former Confederate state, so maybe it's not so surprising. I was pretty blindsided by the twist as well, but it made total sense looking back. I do wish there'd been a little bit more exploration of Marlie's relationship with her white family, especially Sarah, but part of that is probably just how I didn't want this book to end! I really need to go back and read everything else Alyssa Cole has written - maybe a project for 2018.
(Disclosure: the author is a friend.) The only thing wrong with this book is that it's too short - I wanted more! This was a sweet story about moving on from the mistakes of the past, dealing with long-term grief (no on-page deaths, if that's an issue for anyone), and Manhattan real estate. Plus dumplings and ice cream, both of which I am now craving. I wanted a little more of the MC's families, especially Ty's sister, and the eventual resolution to the main conflict over the garden is a little overly convenient, but those are minor nitpicks in an otherwise delightful book.
(2020 summer romance bingo: ice cream, would also work for “set on island” or “meddling matchmakers,” I think.)
I feel like I overuse the word “delightful” in reviews, but this book was just delightful (and excellent to read during Pride, with its flashbacks to queer history, including a lot that I didn't know before.) I loved the found family of August's roommates and the background slow-burn love story between Wes and Isaiah. Perfect summer reading that makes me want to be 23 and living on my own for the first time again (except not really, just reading about it is fine.)
(2021 Summer Romance Bingo: tattoos, would also work for construction, friends to lovers, holiday that's not Christmas, or wardrobe malfunction)
Just a pure hit of serotonin right when I needed it. This needs to be a movie. Just adorable and sweet and fun all the way around. Highly recommended.
Oh, Murderbot, when you have feelings it makes me have feelings. I hope you and Peri are very happy together. The review of this on Smart Bitches Trashy Books called it “an ace/agender romantic suspense novel,” and while I wouldn't have thought that definition fit any of the novellas in the series, it definitely does apply here. I would read the novellas in order before reading this, because they really give so much depth to the backstory and relationships and characters. I didn't love the beginning section of this because I find written action sequences somewhat hard to follow, especially with newer characters that I'm not as familiar with yet (and also, I just find a lot of action sequences boring in general, written or on-screen). I loved the new human and construct characters and very much enjoyed this, but it's 4 stars for me because the beginning was a bit of a slog.
(2021 Summer Romance Bingo: “bodyguard,” would also work for “friends to lovers,” or loosely for “scientific pursuit.”)
Fun subversion of a lot of YA tropes! The last 100 pages or so turned into a bit more of a generic YA dystopian-ish thriller, but the premise was really clever and I definitely enjoyed this one. I would've loved a little bit more Natalie, especially after it's revealed that she's also a Love Interest, but this was still a fun take on flipping a far-too-prevalent cliche.
(3.5, rounding up) Enjoyable enough that I'm gonna read the next in the series, but I'm not a big fan of the art style, which is weird, since I love the covers and they're by the same artist, but such is life, I guess? I like the alternate universe and I'm interested to learn more about Gwen.
screams in defense attorney
Girl, you are CHARGED WITH MURDER AND DRUG TRAFFICKING, what in the hell are you doing talking to the detective at all, let alone without your attorney there, and why are you giving him information and comparing notes on all the other murders? He thinks you did it, he is not on your side. Also, a private citizen cannot "press charges" on a detective for harassment, filing a civil suit is not the same as supporting criminal charges, jail is not the same as prison, and the acknowledgments mention someone reviewing this for the legal aspects, but ... yikes.
This is probably a perfectly fine book if you don't know that much about the legal system, but unfortunately for me, I do and I can't turn that part of my brain off. Maybe mysteries just aren't for me. I did enjoy the characters and the diversity (and all the food descriptions were delicious), and the cover is delightful, but this was a miss for me.
I love this cover (historical accuracy in the dress be damned) - I know illustrated covers are “controversial,” but I'm not a huge fan of the old-school clinch covers either, and this photo cover is just gorgeous. I haven't read a ton of them, but the “brash rich American collides with (relatively) poor nobleman” is one of my favorite historical subgenres - see [b:It Happened One Autumn 827412 It Happened One Autumn (Wallflowers, #2) Lisa Kleypas https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388206425l/827412.SY75.jpg 1823891] for the best one I've read. This book was fascinating to me in the way it actively pushed back on that trope, with August early in the book attending the engagement party/wedding of one of her friends who's been forced into marriage with a truly awful duke for the prestige it'll give her family. (I know that's how these marriages went more often than not, but historical romances are fantasies as it is, so.) I loved August and her determination to not let her sister get trapped into the same bad situation. Evan was a little less developed of a character for me, but I did love his commitment to his family and his mother. One negative thing: this could have used another pass with a copyeditor. There were several instances of words being used twice within a sentence or two of each other, which always reads oddly to me, and a couple of times the flat-out wrong word was used. Nothing major, but distractions from an otherwise-good novel.
3.5, rounding up - really enjoyed the longer pieces, especially “Confessions of a Human Shield” and the profiles of showrunners. The criticism was always well-written and interesting, but there were things I just didn't get that much out of from time to time, particularly for shows I haven't seen (or haven't seen in a while).
Reread. It's summer, and this is a cute and pretty entertaining airplane read. I love how it's at least as much about the friendship between the four women as it is about the dude. Also love the casual mention of same-sex weddings and discussion of class issues (though not in depth, of course, it's a romance novel).
Maybe 2.5? This is the sixth in a series of 20+ books, so there are side characters and setup for future stories all over the place, along with cameos from the couples in previous books. This one was written in 2011 but already hasn't aged all that well, what with this entire town seemingly full of gorgeous single women, but amazingly, no lesbians (not even the fire chief, who goes by “Charlie,” wears cargo pants, and says she's sworn off men). There's one bi character, but she's kind of a joke - at least her hitting on and kissing the FMC seems like it's intended as comedy, and the MMC jokes about "girl on girl," so it's hardly a serious exploration of the topic. Anyway. This was fine? I'm not a huge fan of small-town romance in general (or anything that could be described as “cozy,” really), so that's not entirely the book's fault. None of the characters seemed all that deep or layered to me, though, and I wasn't all that invested in this story.
(2021 Summer Romance Bingo: triplets. Would also work for construction or friends to lovers.)
I liked this, but I wonder if I'd like it more if I'd read it in a more focused way - I kind of dipped in and out over a few weeks, so I kept forgetting who characters were or where Less was in any given chapter, but that's very much on me and not the book's fault. I loved the narrator's voice and I binged the last 75 pages or so (from Morocco on), and it was just so satisfying and the strangest, sweetest little love story at the end of it all, which was unexpected and so charming.
(Just for the record: happiness is not bullshit.)
If this is the first book in a series, I shouldn't feel like I have to read books from one of the author's other series to have any idea WTF is going on. I gave up on the “Scandal and Scoundrel” series after book two, so I never read [b:The Day of the Duchess 31307650 The Day of the Duchess (Scandal & Scoundrel, #3) Sarah MacLean https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1477616140l/31307650.SY75.jpg 51979220], which meant that while the narrative here acted like I should know who Caleb is, I had not the slightest clue. I vaguely remembered Sesily, but that was about it. I'm not saying that the book has to be full of exposition, but some sort of setup so I know who these people are would be nice. Sarah MacLean is incredibly hit or miss for me, but I enjoyed the last couple of hers I read, and I was very much into the premise of “vigilante gang of overlooked society women taking revenge on evil rich dudes,” so I gave this one a chance. Far too little character development - the other vigilantes have characters like “wears glasses” or “is a duchess,” and Caleb kept alluding to a Terrible Secret or Dark Past or something that I got too annoyed by to even care about the reveal. Far too little of said vigilante plots, too many long cameos from other characters in MacLean's books which I haven't read. I DNF-ed a little before 50%, because I realized I just didn't care enough about anyone in this book to try to power through it before the ebook loan ended.
Longer review to follow but I am really enjoying this series! Can't wait until my hold comes in on the third one!
(2022 Summer Romance Bingo: high tea. Would also work for mistaken identity.)
Really enjoyed this one - I haven't read a ton of the “helping your friend/enemy get engaged, whoops I love them” trope (which has to have a better name than that). Loved the chemistry between these two, and this set me off on a mission to read all the Sins for All Seasons books, since this is a spinoff of the last one. There are too many books to read and not enough time!!
3.5, rounding up. Totally inadequate grovel by the MMC, but I'm on vacation so I'll come back to this review. Fancy is a delight.
Slow slow burn with an arranged marriage/marriage of convenience that happens before the start of the book. It makes the pacing a little wonky - there's a lot of exposition/background stuff that's told instead of shown at first, and I think maybe a flashback to their first meeting would have been good? As it goes on, though, I really came to enjoy the slow burn of their relationship and Sanyu dealing with his difficult upbringing and anxiety as a result.
Shanti's motivation was a little underdeveloped for me - I never really got why she wanted to be a queen, specifically, as the way to make positive change in the world, when there are a million other ways to do that, even politically, without trying to marry royalty. I liked her a lot, and I loved her interest in helping her adopted home, but I think a little more background would've been useful here. My only other nitpick is that the tie-in to the next book was more than a little clunky, but I also am very excited for that next book, so I won't fuss too hard.
I loved the cameos-via-text of previous characters from the Reluctant Royals series and I love how fully realized the world of these novels is, and I SUPER-loved the reveal late in the book of what happened to the former queens of Njaza and the missing/erased goddess. I know this is a new series, but the continuity with Reluctant Royals is so satisfying and fun. Very much enjoyed this one!
(4.5 stars, rounding up) So so good - I even liked the kids, which isn't always a guaranteed thing. Half-star off is because of the pacing, which has a lot of plot crammed in at the end, but it doesn't really detract from everything else about how great this is. The first two books in this series have been incredible and I can't wait for the next one. If you like historical romances, you need to be reading Tessa Dare.