Maggie

TW: Infertility, purity culture, adoption. An orthodox Jewish woman who can't have children is still single at 29 because she's seen as "damaged" in her society. A lot of heavy stuff, which I thought they handled very well. Despite the heavy, it was still quite enjoyable.

Haters-to-lovers/boy next door romcom. I thought it was well-written and clever, but I struggled with the relationship. It was mostly about the mean stuff they did to each other over the years rather than the solid relationship they had growing up, which they kept alluding to, but didn't really detail.

He's a famous footballer hiding out in a small town. She's "banished" by her dad to the same small town. They find joy in the local youth girls soccer team.

Lizzie has uncontrolled ADHD and meets a hot Aussie who realizes she's not damaged like she thinks she is. I really enjoyed the portrayal of ADHD and their relationship was swoony.

I loved the way this book was written. So clever to have it all together from emails, articles, etc. The characters were also well written. I just thought the wrap-up felt rushed.

Didn't love the bondage stuff. And it also seemed like there wasn't a lot of growth in their relationship other than physical attraction, which seemed to be immediate... so the flipped switch on the relationship stuff at the end seemed abrupt, but it did have charming parts and I liked the characters.

YA romcom about a teen girl with an anxiety disorder who struggles to make decisions, so it follows a sliding doors scenario through just once choice: does she go to NYC with her mom for Christmas or spend Christmas with her best friend that she's in love with at his cabin? It was cute and clever and I enjoyed the creativity of the sliding doors perspective.

SPOILER: I really like that this all takes place in a 24-hour period from meet to love and follows them around NYC on Christmas Eve. I would give it five stars EXCEPT they make a big deal about her previous boyfriend never said "I love you" back and she assumes he does... and then this guy doesn't say it back to her either when she says it to him! Also, it ends on a bit of a "to be continued" as she flies home and plans to return 9 months later.

This was a fun book, but very predictable, and many of the character arcs seemed too quick to be believable. But it was a "cozy" spy novel. Didn't require much thinking and had some trite thoughts on the worth of your life.

A fun twist on A Christmas Carol. A sort of Spirited! meets teen romcom. Recommending to my tweens as well.

Cozy chick lit - she leaves her cheating husband and signs up to be a caretaker for a seaside cottage and tearoom that has historically hosted many town events. And the nephew of the owner wants to sell it to developers. Mostly chicklit, with a nice dose of romcom.

Oseman handles so many things in this series in a really thoughtful way. Very healthy relationships and very swoony.

Nora reminds me of Rebecca in Ted Lasso, and I really enjoyed it for that reason. And the banter was top tier. Small town checklist is a fun play on the small town romance.

This is my favorite Emily Henry, mainly because I love the idea of the held up notes and how they're both improving as writers together by trying to understand the other.

The relationship building here was amazing. Very well-written. Loved the whole concept.

Small town follows the updates of a girl going on twelve Christmas dates. That was my favorite aspect of this book. But the book focused more on the dates than the love interest.

I really loved this one. Totally bonkers, but such a fun romp for the holidays. And there's a scene in Cracker Barrel that made the whole book worth it.

This one was sweet. She inherits her old aunt's house and finds there's a guy she's coinherited it with that isn't great with people.

Well written, but it was one of those books where they were so mean to each other that I wasn't sure I wanted them together at all. There were some tender moments though.

I'm not the biggest fan of breakup romcoms but it was compelling and there was definite attraction and sexual tension throughout. It bounces from the present to the past, which is also not my favorite structure, but she handled it well.

Not quite as good as the Dead Romantics, but I did love it so much and actually read it first. Clever premise, really interesting conflict between versions of him.

I would say this is a step up from Hallmark movies on the romcom scale. That being said, it was more enjoyable that Hallmark movies, the premise was creative, and obviously who doesn't love the idea of falling in love with a reserved Scotsman?

This is my current favorite romcom. Such a creative premise, real connection, and real conflict.

I loved the way this book was structured and the prose was enjoyable. It was such a well-crafted novel. 4.5 only because I know I loved most of it, but when I finished the book, I'm still not sure if I absolutely loved all of it. But I read it in one sitting and I loved how well the characters were realistically messy and everything could be everyone's fault. But they didn't communicate, and I'm always frustrated when they don't ask the questions I think they should ask of each other.