Amanda
3.5 stars, rounding up. More than a little overstuffed - fake engagement! imposter mother! secret siblings! I'm pretty sure someone faints! - but enjoyable. I could've done without some of the plot points, especially the fake mother, who was essentially one joke repeated too many times, and I'm not sure if I'll read the next one, since the character being set up as the male lead has the same name as my dad, but that's not the author's fault. Fun, but I'm glad I got this from the library instead of buying it.
Liked this one better than [b:You Had Me at Hola 52886627 You Had Me at Hola (Primas of Power, #1) Alexis Daria https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1586364913l/52886627.SY75.jpg 71755402] but then I seem to be alone in not loving Hola that much. Thought the conflict with Gabriel's family was wrapped up a little too easily (especially after almost ten years of no contact), wanted more of Michelle's family, but definitely liked this one and can't wait for the next!
The science in the first two sections is fascinating, the last section needs a major content warning for the author's frankly disordered relationship with food/eating/exercise/whatever in the “How I Do It” chapter - apparently she eats 1000 calories a day, stops eating at 3:00 (so no dinner with her kids or anything), and exercises 2 hours a day, all to keep off “that last ten pounds.” Woof. I can't recommend this one, and I actively warn you against reading it if you have a history of disordered eating.
I am very much here for plus-size representation in romance, less so when the internal monologue for the MMC can't seem to describe the heroine without calling her “round” or “plump,” even things like her arm. I also never got a sense that these two had any real chemistry - the story goes from him needing a “minder” (this man is almost 40 years old, somehow in Spoiler Alert I'd thought he was in his 20s) and constantly teasing/mocking her to them supposedly being in love? Please show your work.He's ridiculously protective of her and it's described as him speaking to her angrily when she doesn't defend herself after someone's treated her badly, and dude, yikes. It's not up to you how someone else handles a situation, especially one they've been in more often than you have. If you don't like that they're in that situation, maybe be angry with the person who put them there. Honestly, while there are backstory reasons for it, it didn't make it any more fun to read, and also, being upset with a person you're in a relationship with for how other people react to them is kind of potentially abusive, pal. Even if you say it's because you love them so much. Also, especially in the beginning of the book, Alex really says some mean things to Lauren (calling her a shrew/harpy/bird-woman), and even if it's teasing or displaced anger at his bosses, it's still not great.So basically, I don't understand why anyone would like Alex, and the book doesn't show me enough of that development from enemies-ish to friends to lovers to make it believable. Lauren's POV thoughts about Alex are mostly about how hot he is, which sure, but that doesn't seem like a recipe for lasting love with this 39-year-old man who still thinks using a short woman as an armrest is funny. I was really looking forward to this book because from the glimpses of these two in [b:Spoiler Alert 50496918 Spoiler Alert (Spoiler Alert, #1) Olivia Dade https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584239588l/50496918.SY75.jpg 75471187], this seemed like a bantering/fun relationship where they each gave as good as they got and were having fun. None of that chemistry made it into this book, which is really disappointing.
2.5 stars, rounding up. Needs some serious content warnings - nothing graphic, but stuff you probably wouldn't expect from a book billed as a sweet romance. CWs here: the MMC is a widower whose first wife died in a mass shooting at their church (off page), and the FMC has sickle cell anemia and a life expectancy of roughly ten additional years. The latter of those isn't really discussed in much detail, which seems like a pretty big issue that's just skipped over to get to the HEA, considering the effect it will have on their future life together. I didn't get much chemistry from the characters, and even though this is a “clean” romance (verging on inspirational), I want some more connection than they had here. Loved the setting and the story about Maya returning home, and of course the cover!
Just a little overstuffed with side characters for me - I don't care so much about whatever actors are doing acid on the tennis court or trashing the good china. I wanted more Kit and maybe a little less Hud and Jay the ex-girlfriend drama just wasn't that interesting, especially since she was barely a character, but I loved Nina and how much the book focused on her. This was a super-quick read and very enjoyable.
Slow-ish burn M/M historical romance set in the 1750s or so. I liked it a lot, but there was much less highwayman training than I expected from the blurb. The whole inheritance plot seemed weirdly paced and even after reading it, I'm not quite sure how that all got wrapped up. Since the female lead of the next book is Marian, I expect that'll all be cleared up further in that one, but while I liked this, don't read it for the highway robbery.
Oh my god, so good and so incredibly hot. Completely different from [b:Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake 55533831 Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake (Winner Bakes All, #1) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610495934l/55533831.SY75.jpg 86199564] and [b:Boyfriend Material 50225678 Boyfriend Material (Boyfriend Material, #1) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575987260l/50225678.SX50.jpg 73590298], in heat level and overall tone, but I just love Alexis Hall's writing. If there's a writing equivalent of “I'd listen to them read the phone book,” that's how I feel about him.
Early Beverly Jenkins - pre-Civil War, main characters meet because of their work on the Underground Railroad in Michigan. I love the story and Hester, the female lead, is so great. I always learn something from a Beverly Jenkins book, but this one is a little bit clunkier at integrating the actual history into the story than her later books. Still excellent and one I enjoyed a lot!
I feel like I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately - lots of things I've liked (or mostly liked) but didn't full-on love. Well, I love this book! It's old school historical but I mean that as a total compliment. There's a gaming hell and a country party and someone gets kidnapped and it's all just incredible.
Take a drink every time the narrator mentions how tiny she is and you'll be blackout drunk in the first 50 pages. I didn't hate this but it also wasn't as amazing as its reputation. Lucy was a fun character and I didn't mind being in her head, but she also felt weirdly isolated. Like, she doesn't seem to have any hobbies or friends or even a pet. All she seems to do is work, Skype her parents, and obsess about Josh. The book makes a big deal about how Lucy's best work friend got fired and blamed her, but girl. Go to a yoga class or something! Having said that, I did enjoy this. The banter was fun and it was a perfectly pleasant long holiday weekend read, though not something I feel like I'll want to revisit.
One thing this book does well: representation of life with an invisible disability/chronic illness (both the author and the FMC have ME/CFS). I also liked the tone - this was a romcom in the actual sense of the word, not “book with an illustrated cover and unclear heat level that actually gets really dark” sense that it's often used these days. Not that that annoys me or anything.
Like I said in my placeholder review, I wanted to like this book more than I did. I am very much here for underrepresented voices in romance! Holiday romances aren't usually my thing but I liked the premise here! But I was really disappointed. The big conflict/reason for the MC's rift is one of those “just talk to each other” moments and also if Rachel and Mickey have been such amazing friends for so long you'd think they might have discussed this before now, and also they were twelve, who expects their camp crush at age twelve to be The One? They both have completely different interpretations of what happened back then, and it ends up with the MMC being pretty mean to the FMC in the early part of the book, which wasn't all that fun to read, even if he didn't do it with actual malicious intent.
Anyway. I didn't think the characterization was really there, either - this is technically dual perspective but it read more like an omniscient narrator than close third-person. I never really felt like there was much insight into either MC's thoughts on a deeper level. Rachel could've been a much more interesting character; I was really interested in her inner conflict about being the daughter of two prominent members of the local Jewish community and also a secret Christmas obsessive/romance novelist, but that was really underdeveloped and resolved in basically an aside at the very end that's not explained. I grew up in a close-knit religious community (not Jewish, but evangelical) and I thought that could be really fascinating as a reason for conflict, but it just sputtered out, sadly. I can't speak to the accuracy of the Jewish representation here, but I did want to highlight a review I found illuminating on that issue.
Also, this book does not bang (in the @HEA_doesitbang sense), which is fine if you're into that but you might want to be aware of. And in writing this longer review I've realized this is probably a two-star instead of a three-star book for me. Why do I always have more to say on the books I didn't like??
Super cute coming-of-age story - the blurb doesn't match most of the book's content, though, which is a little disconcerting, but not the story's fault? Which is to say, what the blurb describes does happen, but not until the last 25% or so of the book, and the story is a lot more about the romance, Charlie's relationship with her mom, and general growing up stuff. I really enjoyed this. I loved how Charlie wasn't super-confident all the time and I loved the relationship between Charlie and Brian - they were so sweet together! This was an adorable contemporary YA (and lest I forget, this cover is also just amazing).
