Jerry Cooke

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.

I loved this book so much! Although there were some ups and downs, the communication was mostly really healthy and it was so beautiful to see. The boundary setting and finding herself that Birdie did was affirming and I adore how her and Cass were with each other.

Genuine moments of tears both happy and sad, a charming and sweet summer sapphic romance

NEW ACHIEVEMENT: COMPLETELY MIND BLOWN

Honestly, I can't believe I've reached this point and there'll be no more Dungeon Crawler Carl until the winter, because I'm absolutely addicted to this story and these characters.

The shift in tone of this book to all the characters in a war zones was masterfully handled, with squad dynamics, lots of politics, and the wider universe continuing to completely get turned upside down. With the guardrails taken off the AI entirely, the chaos levels continue to increase!

4.25⭐️ - A hot and steamy small town sapphic romance with a super sunny and offish grumpy couple that find themselves living together on short notice. This was really fun and I loved the community and conversations that took place, with good boundary setting against controlling parents. Lots of spice and some inappropriate use of a tattoo table

3.75 ⭐️ - A punky STEM heroine with a handsome nemesis.. and a lot of crossed wires!

When Bea gets a chance of a lifetime to bring her neuroscience skills into NASA she should be elated and she would be, were it not for Levi. When somebody has given you the cold shoulder and shown you disdain for your entire academic career, having to co-lead a project with them is NOT a good time - especially when he seems to be getting in her way at every turn.

If there's a truth universally acknowledged.. it's that Bea will not believe she's not hated even if told over and over again. To a point I wanted to scream “Just listen to what he's saying”. While I acknowledge that the book wouldn't be quite as satisfyingly slow burn without the miscommunication, it's hard to believe at times that somebody so smart would be so clueless. It is very satisfying though, for the most part, and the pacing feels much better than The Love Hypothesis. The cast of side characters are loveable, especially her snarky assistant, and there's enough twists and turns to make it a compelling read.



I continue to really enjoy Hazelwood's STEMinist writing, it's fun, emotional, and compelling - and I keep wanting more.

5⭐️ - as beautiful as it is heartbreaking, this book had me utterly hooked!

Marin lived for many years with her grandfather and yet always felt alone. Alone apart from Mabel. When life takes Mabel away to college and Marin's events cause Mabel to escape to her New York weeks earlier than planned, she ends up cutting off all ties to her old life. Until the winter break, when Mabel - tired of never hearing back - comes back into Marin's life and opens doors that had been left closed for months.

The themes of loss and longing in this story are so powerful and the way that flashbacks and asides are used to explore the events prior to Marin running away make it all the more moving. This is a story about love, but not just romantic; it's the love of found family, the kindness of strangers, and the warmth in the dark cold that can come from understanding another person.

Utterly beautiful, profoundly moving, this is a book I'll remember for a long time.

4.5⭐️ - A cute, nerdy, and altogether fun rocom as past miscommunication leads strong spice

As a self-identifying STEMinist, I have been sleeping on Hazelwood's work for far too long, let me first say!

Viola loves her work and when the chance to develop a game based on her favourite book comes up, the only person standing in her way is Jesse. How is she expected to work with a man who has treated her as if she's something he's found on the bottom of his shoe for many years? When their competing studios are placed into forced proximity, she has to face the fact that she'll have to work with him if she wants her dream to come true.



A short (4hr) audiobook exclusive, this is a really adorable tale of two nerds who really need to get on the same page. The classic romcom vibes are strong and the spice is equally, with there being some moments that genuinely made me laugh out loud. Given the length, it does feel like quite a lot of it ended up being devoted to describing what happens in the bedroom, but it's otherwise a nicely rounded and contained plot with several memorable side characters.



Overall, a really enjoyable bite-sized story with intelligent and understandable characters.

2.75⭐️ - Twisted timelines and motives come together to create a fascinating concept, but a muddle of perspectives. I really wanted to love this book, but on the whole found it underwhelming.

At the core, it's a whodunit, a mystery of somebody shot dead in a room that is locked from the inside. Odette, a young graduate researcher finds the body and it leads her on a determined path to find out the who and the why of it all. It's also a story of mental health and the way it can be weaponised to keep people out of roles, as Ruby finds out as she begins to explore the history of her grandmother, Bee, who was one of the founding scientists who discovered time travel.

There's many threads, duplicities, and complex relationships here. With past and future selves, children older than their parents, etc. it can get confusing at times keeping track of which version of a character you're dealing with. This is by design and part of the nature of time travel, I guess. It's possible I wasn't in the right brain space for it, but it just left me a bit unfulfilled.

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

4.25⭐️ - 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

4.25 ⭐️ - This was a really sweet story, with a lot of complex relationships and a focus on the way in which still being hung up on a person who broke your heart can stand in the way of fully committing to a new relationship.

Scottie has been off her game and her team has suffered since her ex-girlfriend moved to a rival school. When a fender bender puts her in close proximity to Irene, a girl who has been nothing but mean to her in the past, she find herself falling into a scheme that will improve the teams chances and take pressure off Irene.

This is your classic sports romance with a sapphic twist, a coming of age story about accepting yourself, not letting your worth be defined by people who don't love you enough, and how closeted bullies can be homophobic. It's got lovely family vibes and supportive team mates and is overall just a really fun read.

This was cute and I grew to like Piper more than I thought I would, considering the airhead LA party girl she is initially portrayed as.

The relationships that form within the town outside of the main romance are, to me, more touching - the bonds (both of blood and of community) being lovely to see.

Hands down the best audiobook I've ever listened to, no notes!

Seriously, if you're going to read this (and you should!), go in completely blind and listen to the audiobook because not only is Ray Porter a stunning narrator, the nature of the story is conveyed so much in this medium.

One of the best science fiction books I've read in recent years beyond any doubt!

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.

4.5⭐️ - An awkward and nerdy fake dating tale with a lot of heart!

When you pick a guy at random to kiss, it pays to avoid it being one of the most feared academics in your department. At least, that's Olive's gut reaction upon realising she's done just that. What's worse, she now has to keep up the ruse so that both her and the tall, dark not-so-stranger can both convince the right people that they're dating. 



Olive, our FMC, isn't specifically identified as being neurodivergent but given how much I related to her, I strongly suspect she could have been written that way. At times, it was almost painful how many crossed wires were tripping up our fake-lovers. There was something incredibly realistic about how the over-thought everything to her own detriment and the way her friends had to be the ones to make her see the light.



There were so many moments the made me smile or actively laugh out loud, such was the simple fun of this book. I also found myself tearing up at the kindness of her friends, and scrunching my fists at the injustice of her treatment. It really was a big emotional journey at times.



This was my first full-size Hazelwood book and I'll definitely be carrying on with them, not least because listening to them as audiobooks makes them easy daytime reads.

4.25⭐️ This was a really sweet story, with Ophelia (who had always been labeled as boy crazy by her friends and family) experiencing a queer awakening. Facing her own self image, the fears of judgement by her Latino family, and the dynamics of her friend group.

It's very much a YA coming of age story rather than strictly a sapphic romance, but it was really affirming with good representation of straight passing queer relationships, asexuality, and how family history can inform understanding from parents.

4.75⭐️ - Just as much fun as the first three books, with the added benefit of an increased range of characters and an increased focus on the larger political landscape and the machinations of the various factions. I'm loving seeing how this is all playing out ☺️

3.75⭐️- I have never both loved a book and wanted to yell at a protagonist so much! The entire book is in Fallon's internal monologue/narration and good god does she undermine and overthink all the time. The reason I still rate this book highly is that A) I loved the relationship between them, B) it was super self aware overthinking, with a fourth wall breaking kind of talking to us as observers acknowledging how annoying it was and C) as a chronic overthinker.. it was painfully accurate

4⭐️ - A lot of steam in the kitchen with this one, a spicy dish that leaves you wanting more!

Amy's restaurant is on the down turn, with the popularity of her former TV contestant head chef Sophie slipping after she called off her engagement. As the two work together to try and avert potential closure, they're forced to confront not just their attraction towards each other, but also their fears and desires.

This is a sweet story, with Sophie being newly out as bi and Amy being the experiences lesbian who is afraid of serious commitment. It deals a lot with the issue of assuming what's best for somebody and shows healing and growth of past stuff that creates boundaries in communication.

It had as much spice as one of the raunchier Hazelwood books, with some wipe downs of kitchen surfaces definitely required!