Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.I feel like I keep saying the same things about Julie Anne Long’s Palace of Rogues series & that’s because each book is freaking amazing. JAL writes yearning like NO OTHER. The amount of feeling is extraordinary & yet it doesn’t feel like too much—it feels like how people feel when they’re falling in love & can’t immediately or (won’t) act on those feelings. There’s so much emotion but there’s so much physicality too. These people are falling in love with each other’s hearts & insides & bodies too, people. My Season of Scandal features MP Lord Dominic Kirke, who is basically a cat if a cat loved to stir up trouble with his words & also fight for very important social causes. The heroine, Catherine Keating, is visiting from the country, & she is lovely & divine but also astute & in Dominic’s words, a fighter, & the two go together like peanut butter & jelly, thunderous rain & spring flowers. I loved this book & I adore this series! The way that JAL writes romance is exquisite & if you haven’t read this series, you really, really should. 5⭐️. Out 04/23.[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of greenery.]
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quick thoughts reviews! Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban. The idea of a Parent Trap-esque romance between two women trying to avoid their own matrimonial expectations & pressures is fantastic to me & I love how we get a bonus romance with their parents. The connection between leads is sweet & hot but the overall plot feels unnecessarily angsty IMO & I didn’t always understand why things were happening like they did. But I definitely enjoyed this book & see a lot of potential for future reads—a good thing, since I have book 2 on my shelves! 4 ⭐️, out now. (Thanks to the publisher for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.) Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon. I stan a heroine with a passionate hobby & I found myself most invested in this book when it talks about what Ellie Greco is into: fashion, family, & her family’s deli. I was less invested in the romance, which started to grow on me before kinda blowing up in my face somewhat. In the end, this title feels misleading & I would characterize it as HFN. I wanted to like this one more, & in moments I did, but overall the relationship between leads feels tenuous & the third act breakup is pretty brutal. 3⭐️️, out 04/30. (Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.) Have you read either of these? Are either on your TBR? If not, what’s your current read? [ID: a gray cat sits on a bed in front of a white bookcase & a yellow wall.]Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.Get you a fictional hottie who can fix your computer & tow your car. Or a fictional hottie who takes charge of her life, kicking butts & taking names & sometimes getting herself into little awkward dilemmas as she does it. Those are both leads of Danica Nava’s The Truth According to Ember, a sexy workplace contemporary that features these two standout Native MCs, their families (& sometimes the complications that come along with them), and the secondary leads—good, bad, & icky—who populate their Oklahoma City workplace. In moments this book had me swooning hard & in others, getting frustrated with FMC Ember Lee who frequently resorts to lying (see title ) when it comes to her job & love interest Danuwoa. But the book offers motivations behind many of the lies—at least in the beginning, before things start ramping up & Danica’s actions—though still somewhat understandable—had me stressing . Setting aside the lying, this book delivers on the romance front. Though lying can be iffy for me in terms of romance development, there’s a real connection between Ember & Danuwoa, forged on their attraction, their shared culture & experiences as Native Americans, & just what they want out of life. Friends, I thought this book was great. There are some stellar scenes in it & lots of moments where I rooted for both of them, especially as Ember celebrates the milestones she’s making happen. 4.5⭐️. Out 08/06.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. You know those feel good sports movies where you are rooting for the honorable underdog team & they finally win & you’re like YES, YOU DID IT, LOOK AT YOU GO!?! That’s how I felt reading The Prospects by KT Hoffman, with the added loveliness of rooting for one player extra hard, a trans hero named Gene who’s loved baseball for years & is shining on his minor league team. An old college teammate is traded to Gene’s team & what is initially annoyance & frustration turns into deep friendship, understanding, affection, & love. This book has so many sweet moments & they had my heart singing. Gene & Luis show so much care for each other—I had every sense that they completely had each others’ backs whether it came to the team they played on or in non-sports life. With anxiety rep, trans rep (including a scene where Gene injects himself with testosterone), strong friendships, & about a thousand other things I love, The Prospects is truly a stellar mix of hug-in-a-book-emotionality meets joie de vivre! 5⭐️. Out 04/09. CW: please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Last: Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann: you know that ghost stories make me weak in the knees, so I was really excited by this title. What worked for me is a self-assured heroine who shines on the page, some really thoughtful conversations between the hero and heroine about the heroine’s asexuality, and the overall interesting premise. But unfortunately, the book seemed to lag in spots and just felt a bit convoluted. I missed a sense of joy. In the end, I wanted to love this one but sadly I just didn’t. 3 ⭐️️. Out 05/21. (Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.)
Now:The Prospects by KT Hoffman. I am absolutely loving this queer baseball romance. I kid you not, at 5% I was already messaging someone telling them they needed to read this book. I am about 75% in now and I know this is going to be a five-star read. Out 04/09. (Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.) Next:Maybe Emma R. Alban’s Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, maybe Kate Clayborn’s The Other Side of Disappearing. I’m honestly not sure. Have you read any of these books or any on your TBR? Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.Lavash at First Sight by Taleen Voskuni made me have such a big heart-smile. I loved so much about it, especially: 🧡 how both Nazeli & Vanya are Armenian-American & this is something really important to them & to their families in general. I love how they are able to bond over that shared history & culture—their mutual respect for each others’ parents really got to me! 🧡FMC Nazeli’s passion & drive to give everything her all. The tension between her demanding 9-5 (more like 24/7, as hard as she works) & the toll she grows to understand it’s taking on her feels relatable! 🧡 so much family love! I know I mentioned this earlier but I just love how the family is represented here. There are some hiccups along the way but also so much love & understanding & acceptance. 🧡 Romeo & Juliet vibes but make it queer & add a food competition 🧡 honesty & transparency & a willingness to admit mistakes. Nazeli doesn’t take the easy insult road earlier in the book but later, when she does make a mistake, she’s very self-aware & takes responsibility. 🧡 humor! For my romance peeps, I wanna let you know this is closed door. But I also want to shout to the world that this book is so sweet & lovely and I loved it! 4.5⭐️. Out 05/07.CWs: Toxic work environment & Nazeli’s boss makes negative & harmful comments about her body. Reference to Armenian Genocide.
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