Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Clare Gilmore’s Love Interest dazzled me. I adore this contemporary—it has everything I want. Like: —a rivals to lovers workplace sitch where he doesn’t realize that he got the job she applied for. Her dislike of him is further fueled by the fact that he’s the board chairman’s son & she smells nepotism. —a spectacles-wearing hero. Need I say more?! —a financial analyst heroine who worries about her legacy as the daughter of creative-minded parents & who wants to be scared/excited again when it comes to putting herself out there —humor. There’s an only one bed line that really cracked me up. —so much heart & realness. References to previous “gastrointestinal turbulence” & needing deodorant (for those who appreciate things like that) & also the sweetest moments where she has to continually extricate herself from his warm snuggles & pee in the middle of the night & he teases her & she’s like “I have a small bladder.” These characters are so well-developed & not only the central relationship between Casey & Alex shines, so do the secondary ones. I love the portrayal of friendship & the queer rep, & basically everything about this authentic-feeling, fresh, intimate, & joyous story. 5⭐️. Out 10/10.CWs: Sexual harassment. Grief. Emotionally negligent parent. Reference to past chlamydia.
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Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.An enemies to lovers space opera with an uptight hero?! Say less. Say more. Whatever, I want more details. Calamity by Constance Fay is such a fun ride & gave me those thrills of discovering a new author that I clicked with. Captain Temperance Reed has been banished from her family & from certain parts of space. But she’s offered a job she can’t refuse, as much as she would like to. She’s going on a scouting mission of a planet for a powerful family & she has to take their hot son, a prince named Arcadio Escajeda, with her. Now we’re talking. Also he’s their security & he’s uptight & he believes the mean rumors her brother started about her, something he learns are false pretty quickly. Now we’re talking again. With lots of action, a strong hero who “rumbles” a lot, some humor & , & those enemies to lovers dynamics I love so hard, Calamity is sure to please so many of you. 4.5⭐️. Out 11/14.Please reads the CWs of a trusted reviewer.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.You, Again by Kate Goldbeck is quite the emotional ride. If you’re an angst-lover, jump in, the water’s very warm. If you’re like me, you might read this one with that Chrissy Teigen cry-grimace-smile on your face because objectively you can acknowledge it’s a great book but subjectively you need the pain to be over & the HEA to hit you with sweet relief . Compared to When Harry Met Sally, this book features leads who keep bumping into each other over a series of years, at first fighting & disliking each other & gradually moving into friendship. This is where the book really got to me, in seeing the characters change & in seeing that the characters *have changed* since we saw them last. The leads’ first clunky forays past animosity are wonderfully revealing & sweet. Of course the leads don’t stay in the friendship zone—& I didn’t want them to!—but both have a lot of baggage to work through before the reconciliation. It’s the way the baggage is worked through that caused me secondhand distress as a reader: see paragraphs above about angst. But the story is compelling & the characters feel real & the ending is lovely & unique & something I won’t likely forget . I think a lot of people will love this one, & a lot of people will be moved by this one. It definitely makes an impact. 4⭐️. Out 09/12.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. There’s been a real trend in my reading lately of emotional contemporary romances that deal with grief & general life uncertainty & it makes me happy & sad. Happy for all of us that we’re living in a time when these topics can be discussed with gravity & often humor & always understanding & that there can be so much joy interwoven in those stories too—the joy of falling in love. Sad because books about grief & loss are that too, of course, & Ashley Poston’s The Dead Romantics & Sarah Adler’s Mrs. Nash’s Ashes & now Jessica Joyce’s YOU, WITH A VIEW really make their departed characters come across the page—their hopes & dreams & most importantly, their love—even as those characters are no longer physically present within the book itself. YOU, WITH A VIEW is just a stellar book in general, merging a rivals to lovers story with an emotional epistolary-laden road trip with splashes of humor so well. Not only is the book about an ending—the loss of Noelle’s grandmother & best friend—it’s also about beginnings: giving life to professional hopes & dreams, making new friends, seeing more to a high school rival than you thought was there, seeing everything. What else can I say about this book except that I loved it, it’s beautiful & sad & hopeful & romantic, I loved the steam, I want to go on an adventure with someone who will kiss me in a hotel room (ie my husband), & you should read this book? 5⭐️. Out 07/11.[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of the ocean. In the background is her husband Daniel, a white man wearing a hat, a light colored shirt, & blue swimming shorts.]Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the publisher for the complimentary hard-copy. All opinions provided are my own.The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem has a killer first line. You know, one of those that kind of stops you in your tracks. Though there were moments after that where I was temporarily confused by the worldbuilding, at a certain point I became totally invested in this story & couldn’t wait to see what happened. The ending left me shocked to my core (!) & waiting to see what happens in book 2. The premise of this fantasy is that magic is not allowed to be performed any longer, but our heroine Sylvia does it in front of the greatest threat to her: the leader of the monitoring force that makes sure magic isn’t being performed, & an heir, Arin. If you want forced proximity, slow burn with eventual kissing & a stunning ending that will make you wonder what & how & when things will happen in book 2, check this one out. It’s a lot of fun! 4.5⭐️. Out 07/18.Please see a trusted reviewer's list of CWs.
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