Maggie

Clever, funny, and swoon-worthy.

This isn't a "Feel-good" book, but it's very well written and the parallel stories were fascinating. The conversation around identity and art was also on point.

This was one part mystery, one part romance. It was well-written and engaging and the characters had depth.

I did enjoy this one because most of the characters are delightful and the story is intriguing, but this was a mystery/romance/heist novel with a twist of fantasy that isn't satisfyingly any of those. But still fun and well-written.

This was well-written, but I don't love the ones that jump back and forth and build to the conflict, mainly because it seems harder to tie it up on a good note. That's how I felt about this one. Once it was all out, it seemed to just wrap it up, and it was too jarring. I didn't leave feeling swoony.

I really enjoyed this one. Sanderson's world building is always incredible, but the characters of this one were all so charming in their own way. Lightsong was one of my favorite characters and I loved how Sanderson weaved everything together.

I liked this one! But I'm a sucker for ADHDers being unapologetically ADHD and being loved for it. The banter was also on point.

I don't love the haters to lovers trope because usually I don't want them to get together after they've spent so long being such jerks to each other. This one worked for me, though. There were reasons they were angry and they actually owned up to their poor behavior and made personal changes. The story was well crafted, as O'Leary is great at doing. Enjoyed it greatly!

I loved this whole series. Sort of a cross between the cleverness of A Series of Unfortunate Events and a spoof on Harry Potter, with Sanderson's talent for world-building. Highly recommend.

I'm not a connoisseur of paranormal romance, but this was intriguing with a bit of a mystery wrapped up in it. It did, however, move pretty slow in parts, but the attraction was well-written.

A cute story about chronic pain, the difference between sex and intimacy, and how setting boundaries helps love grow.... And yes, the marijuana aspect of the story dives deep into the details around it and its medical use, but the audience learns with the characters.

Nothing like a small-town romcom set on a charming Greek island. My main complaint with this one was that I feel like their most enjoyable moments together were mentioned as memories of the main character, rather than lived in the moment, though there were some good moments together as well.

This was a "how I met your mother" type journey, and while all the supporting characters were fabulous, there were definitely some cringeworthy moments of Jack and Laurie that made me not love them. It was fun and cleverly written, but the ending did also feel a bit rushed.

This book is very well crafted and very clever. It deals with really tough issues and there were some really hard-to-read scenes. Overall, it is two love stories told from the perspectives of Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, and Hades as they intersected the story. The characters were well-written and grew throughout the story. It is a story about love and what it means to love someone vs what we think love to be. This isn't a comfort read, but it is a good one.

Talia Hibbert is great with characters.

TW: Infertility, purity culture, adoption. An orthodox Jewish woman who can't have children is still single at 29 because she's seen as "damaged" in her society. A lot of heavy stuff, which I thought they handled very well. Despite the heavy, it was still quite enjoyable.

Haters-to-lovers/boy next door romcom. I thought it was well-written and clever, but I struggled with the relationship. It was mostly about the mean stuff they did to each other over the years rather than the solid relationship they had growing up, which they kept alluding to, but didn't really detail.

He's a famous footballer hiding out in a small town. She's "banished" by her dad to the same small town. They find joy in the local youth girls soccer team.