Saturday, January 4, 2020

F*ck No! by Sarah Knight

What a fun book! I never would have thought that there were that many examples of ways to say no. And that is the bulk of the book. There is a lot in the beginning about why saying no is good and how to divorce yourself from assuming that you need to help with everything. This was a little redundant to other books I had read but just enough difference to make it a fun read.

Four stars
This book came out December 31st
ARC kindly provided by Voracious and NetGalley
Opinions are my own


Friday, January 3, 2020

To Night Owl from Dog Fish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

What would happen if you were raised by a single parent and suddenly discovered that your parent was dating? What if it was serious? What if the other person was also a single parent? Would you want the other kid to know? Bett does. It's why she starts emailing Avery. Their dads are dating and it looks like lurv. Enough that the two men are planning on sending the girls to the same camp in the hopes that they will learn to like each other. But Avery and Bett aren't so sure about that and through the course of a year (plus a little), Bett, Avery, and readers will get to learn what it means to be family.

Four and a half stars
This book came out February 12th, 2019
Book from library
Opinions are my own


Thursday, January 2, 2020

Panic Broom by Sara Bourgeois

Panic Broom by Sara BourgeoisBrighton is ecstatic. Six months (or so) after the last book and she's dating the man of her dreams, in fact, he's just proposed. Too bad there are shenanigans afoot. Well, if you can classify zombies as shenanigans. It seems that her fiance's family has been dabbling in dark magics and have caused a worldwide epidemic (is that the word for zombies?).
This book, like the others in this series, is short so it's light on story and character development but it's pretty fluffy and fast to read.

Three books
Follows A Clean Sweep
Followed by Sweep-Stakes
This book came out July 10th, 2019
Audiobook from library

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Catch Me if You Can by Donna Kauffman

Catch Me If You Can (Men of Rogue's Hollow #3)Tag Morgan is the oldest of four boys whose emotionally and physically abusive father has just died. He discovers that his father has been sending money to a woman in Scotland and it has something to do with the Morgan family history, the one his father tried to beat out of he and his brothers. But something about the letters the woman caring for the castle, Maura Sinclair, sent to his father draws Tag to Scotland. In a wild snowstorm, he meets a woman who takes his breath away but she leaves without him learning her name. He is shocked to find her again at the Sinclair castle; she is, of course, the woman who has so intrigued him.
The whole time I was reading this book, I was really trying not to judge Maura for stepping out of one man's bed into another. The ex was a complete scumbag anyway and she had just had a near death experience as well as dealing with the crushing responsibilities of being the laird of a clan that had little interest in staying put. And I think what kept confusing me the most was that this seemed so out of line with the Kauffman books that I had been reading recently.  Finally, I figured out that this was a reissue from 2003 and it explained So Much. If you have only read recent books by this author, please note that her style has changed a bit. Other than that, the relationship development is a bit thin (a lot of heat with some off-page talks but nothing that let us see why they would stay together) but it is a perfectly fun read.

Three stars
This book came out December 31st
ARC kindly provided by Kensington and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Take Me by Bella Andre

Take Me (Take Me, #1)I heard about this book on one of my romance podcasts. It was supposed to be a book with a larger size heroine. And Lily Ellis is larger, a full size 16. Her best friend doesn't treat her any different but his twin brother, Travis Carson, has always been disdainful of her. Which is too bad because Lily has always been attracted to him. And she immediately recognizes that it is him in the audience, rather than her best friend, when she gets pulled into modeling some of her sister's clothes.
And it's modeling the well-fitting gorgeous clothes that finally make Travis notice Lily. So they have one wild night. But then he hires her to help decorate a house and they have to travel to Italy together. There, they really get to know the attraction that is burning between them.
The language in this one was a bit odd as though it wasn't edited very well. And I didn't love the way Lily was treated. I didn't feel it was as bad as some readers reviewed.

Three stars
Followed by Love Me
This book came out November 15, 2005
I had a hard copy that I passed on to someone else

Monday, December 30, 2019

Your Endless Love by Layla Hagen

Summer Bennett is the only one of her 9 siblings not married. She certainly doesn't expect to find her HEA with a Hollywood A-lister.
Alexander Westbrook has (according to the gossip rags) just gotten out of a relationship. Really, it ended months ago but he is under contract to not appear with another woman until the latest movie in their franchise series gets released. But he's getting hammered in the press and he doesn't want to pull Summer into that. Too bad they are meant to be.
An okay story but a bit on the surface.I didn't really see what would have them stick together other than Summer was "different" from "all the other women."

This book came out February 3, 2018
Follows Your One True Love
Borrowed from library
Opinions are my own

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Your One True Love by Layla Hagen

One of the last unmarried Bennett siblings, Daniel is the only main character in the series who doesn't even pretend to want to stay single. He knows that his family is trying to get him hooked up back up
with Caroline Dunne, his college sweetheart and he's all for it. He knows that they both made bad decisions that lead to them breaking up but that doesn't mean that they both aren't smarter, wiser, and in a better place to maybe make a relationship work.
Caroline isn't as sanguine. Yes, she's still attracted to Daniel but the last time they broke up, she didn't just lose him, she lost his whole family. And since her mother died last year, she wants those connections.
I do like that the obvious Big Misunderstandings aren't the ones that Hagen goes for but there are still always at least one last issue that we have to read through.

Follows Your Fierce Love
Followed by Your Endless Love
Book borrowed from Library
Opinions are my own