Jerry Cooke

4.75⭐️ - A moving and affirming story, revealing the difficult choices one must make when in a position of expectation.

When Danni Blythe starts as a scholarship student a the prestigious all-girls boarding school that's filled with the daughters of some of the most powerful people in Henland, all she hopes for is that she'll be able to leave her years of being bullied behind. Despite feeling as if she's on the lowest rung of the social ladder, she finds herself quickly included. When she literally falls another girls arms, the fact that it turns out to be those of the Crown Princess leads to a romance that's as complicated as it is heart warming.

I loved this story rather a lot and despite thinking from the first twenty pages or so that it might be a feel-good and possibly cheesy Princess Diaries kind of tale, it had a real depth of emotional feeling. In particular, the arcs of Rose's journey of dealing with grief and Danni's fear of being perceived were really transformative to read through. A thoroughly rich story and one that I'd definitely recommend.

This was such a perfect end to the trilogy, with Margo reconnecting with her first love, Olivia. I love a second chance trope, but only when it's like this - a relationship that should have been, but didn't pan out due to circumstances. Margo is a massive over thinker and Olivia has spent a decade being controlled by her ex-husband, and so seeing them care for each other and provide what they needed was really affirming.

I'm so sad to come to the end of these characters stories, but there was a beautiful epilogue that brought things to a satisfying end and I'm very thankful to Alexandria Bellefleur for that!

This was another wonderful entry into the series, introducing Annie (Darcy‘s best friend) who was mentioned in the first book. We see a lot more of Brendan, as he and Annie get to know each other and navigate their competing wants, desires, and fears.

This is another really sweet story, and we get to see enough of Ellie and Darcy to keep connected with them and make it all feel part of one complete story. I'm really enjoying these books and I can't wait to dive into the next one.

4.25⭐️ - This was such a cute story, the perfect application of a fake dating trope with a sprinkle of astrology and tragic backstory. I loved Elle's optimism and Darcy's black cat with a golden heart energy, they made the perfect pairing, and I'm so excited to read more in this world

Greece gets a sapphic twist with a dash of forced proximity in the flashbacks to the summer. I really enjoyed the way there was the mixed chronology (I don't usually) and the way we got to see both the forming of the relationship over the summer and the queer awakening as well as the present coming to terms with what she'd always wanted vs what she wanted as the person she'd become.

It's sweet, affirming, and fun for the summer ☺️

4.5⭐️ - This was stinking adorable, a totally relatable story about failing to notice what's right in front of you, even if it could be the best thing in the world.

At times, I wanted to yell at Lou to realise what was going on, but the ending was super satisfying and it gave me happy tears at how cute it all was ☺️

4.5⭐️ - Escaping the closet can be incredibly hard when your world is build around those who would judge, as Ruby knows all too well. Her mother's pressure and their financial situation forcing her to remain within an environment that would not support her. Morgan refuses to be untrue to herself, having been shunned and kicked from her former athletics team and school due to standing up against the homophobia of her coach. As the two girls connect, navigating those two opposing desires becomes increasingly hard to navigate in this poignant journey of discovery novel.

The more I read of Jennifer Dugan's work, the more I find the themes of self acceptance and discovery affirming and touching. I found this book really sweet and the dual perspective (something that Dugan excels at) extremely well executed and balanced in terms of showing both of the MCs perspectives.

3.25⭐️

This was an interesting exploration on the effects of pressure to be the best, particularly in minority communities. I really enjoyed the level of diversity and representation, but as a protagonist Grace's internal dialogue was a little hard to read at times. The combination of third person perspective and multiple flashbacks, it was somewhat difficult to keep track of as well.

Specially related to the audiobook, while the narrator brought some of the prose like language to life well, an almost complete lack of variation better character voices made it a real challenge to keep track of who was taking.

That said, the relationship between Grace and Yuki was rewarding to see at times, as well as the bonds of friendship with the secondary characters. The topics of conversation brought up in Yuki's radio show were interesting

4.5⭐️ - Bridgerton meets Back to the Future, in a fascinating and queer take on time travel romance!

Audrey has lost her creative spark and with a looming deadline to submit an updated portfolio to RISD, she's in a spiral of panic and self doubt. When a magic coin sends her back into regency England, she must learn to navigate the confusing time period and complicated feelings.

A major focus of the story was the way in which a modern woman would be shocked by how restrictive it was in that time period and how, likewise, a woman from the 1800s would be fascinated by all the possibilities open to her in the future. The romance here is really slow burn and super cute and I adored seeing them learning about each other's worlds.