Book Review: Wish You Weren't Here

📚 Book Review: Wish you Weren't Here 

Portia Macintosh

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫

🗓️ Publication Date: January 8, 2025

📚 My Review: Well that was a fun, chaotic rom-com! This was my first novel from Portia Macintosh and I enjoyed the writing style and pace of the book. I thought Ethan was charming and fun, though a few spots were a bit over the top! You couldn't help but feel for Lana in the midst of all the family drama and to root for her throughout. I think it's worth a read if you like second-chance romances and lovable chaos!

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: Lana has had enough. Her ‘perfect’ sister is getting married. In Australia. On Lana’s 30th birthday and no one seems to have noticed. To make matters worse, she’s been given a list of rules she must follow so she doesn’t upstage the bride. Well, rules are meant to be bent right?

She’s found a killer dress, now she just needs the most inappropriate wedding date she can find. But where to start? All her attempts at online dating are simply disasters, and not in the right way! Too boring/married/easily intimidated! But then her drop dead gorgeous ex Ethan suddenly reappears in her life. With the power to make her dizzy with excitement she reminds herself why they broke up. Together they literally attracted chaos until their relationship imploded. They couldn’t make it work. But could Lana make this work in her favour… just for the wedding?

However, when they arrive in Australia Ethan seems to have forgotten he’s only there to help cause bedlam. Instead he’s off the charts charming, nothing like she remembers and not playing by her rules. She’s here for revenge, not a rekindled holiday romance…but Ethan has other ideas!

Book Review: The Lodge

📚 Book Review: The Lodge 

Kayla Olson

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🗓️ Publication Date: January 7, 2025

📚 My Review: Oh my! This book was like a warm cup of cocoa (with a side of soft pretzels) after a day on the slopes! Sweet & comforting, it was the perfect mix of romance, intrigue, and cozy winter vibes.

Alix’s ghostwriting gig and the mystery surrounding True North’s missing frontman gave the story a unique twist. While the romance took center stage, the unfolding backstory of the boy band added depth and kept me hooked.

I adored the witty banter, heartwarming moments, and the dreamy, slow-burn romance. If you’re looking for a cozy rom-com with a dash of mystery, this one’s a perfect choice!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: Alix Morgan just got her big break as the ghostwriter of a memoir by Sebastian Green, a former member of the boy band True North. And when he offers her a penthouse at a luxurious resort in Vermont, she jumps at the chance to work far away from her noisy, cramped apartment.

Her career as an entertainment journalist has been building toward this dream job—after all, she used to cover True North and was one of the last people to interview former front man Jett Beckett before he disappeared. As she combs through her client’s voice memos, the specter of the missing lead singer remains, and fans are desperate to know the full story.

But Alix also has time for some fun at this glamorous resort, where she begins ski lessons with a handsome instructor named Tyler. As Alix and Tyler fall in love on the slopes, Alix’s work takes a complicated turn—and the mystery of True North’s downfall may be hers to solve.

Book Review: Definitely Better Now

📚 Book Review: Definitely Better Now 

Ava Robinson 

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🗓️ Publication Date: December 17, 2024

📚 My Review: This debut is a bittersweet and witty look at sobriety, love, and family chaos. Emma’s struggles with navigating dating, her estranged father, and holiday stresses were raw and relatable, and the writing style made her journey feel authentic. Also, the budding romance with Ben added warmth to the storyline. A heartfelt and charming read for sure!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: A touching and deeply funny debut about starting over sober only to discover life’s biggest messes are still waiting right where you left them.

The very last person anyone should worry about is Emma. Yes, hi, she’s an alcoholic. But she’s officially been sober for one entire year. That’s twelve months of better health. Fifty-two whole weeks of focusing on nothing but her nine-to-five office job, group meetings, and avoiding the kind of bad decisions that previously left her awash in shame and regret. It’s also been 365 days of not dating. And with her new dating profile, Emma, 26, of New York is ready to put herself back out there.

Except—was dating always this complicated? And did Emma’s mother really have to choose now to move in with her new boyfriend? Being assigned to plan her office’s holiday party feels like icing on the suddenly very overwhelming cake until her estranged father reappears with devastating news. Icing, meet cherry on top. But then there’s Ben, the charming IT guy who, despite Emma’s awkwardness and shortcomings, seems to maybe actually get her? Sobriety is turning out to be far from the flawless future Emma had once envisioned for herself, but as she allows herself to open up to Ben and confront difficult past relationships, she’s beginning to realize that taking things one day at a time might just be the perfectly imperfect path she’s meant to be on

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Book Review: When I Was Theirs

📚 Book Review: When I was Theirs

Evelyn Flood

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🗓️ Publication Date: November 14, 2024

📚 My Review: This book pulled me in from the start and I read it in less than a day. The love story with Ben is sweet and full of little moments that made me smile, but then everything falls apart. Jared's character adds tension and emotion to the story. Their connection is messy but also unexpectedly healing.

The heavy themes hit hard (make sure you check the warnings), Emmy went through SO much.. but the author balances the heartbreak with hope. If you’re up for an emotional ride, it’s worth the read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Evelyn Flood for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: The sky raged on the night that I met Benjamin Bennett.

I should have known.

Bad things always happen when the sky rages.

Ben Bennett blows into my life like a whirlwind. Intent on keeping my head down, he pushes me to look up. To look at the stars.

To dance in the rain.

To love the little moments.

To love him.

Loving Ben is easy. As easy as breathing. Until the worst happens, and I’m left alone to pick up my broken pieces for the second time.

Except now there’s Jared. Ben’s brother is angry, and I’m his favorite target. He wants nothing to do with me. I want nothing to do with him. But when my world flips again, Jared Bennett becomes the one person holding me together.

If only he wasn’t the one who broke me.

Please note that this book contains heavy, emotional themes.

Book Review: How to Get a Life in Ten Dates

📚 Book Review: How to Get a Life in Ten Dates

Jenny L Howe

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫

🗓️ Publication Date: December 10, 2024

📚 My Review: This was a cute, predictable romcom and I'm not complaining about that! You knew what was going to happen early on, but the story to get there was still cute. The characters were perfectly imperfect and some of the dates made me LOL. 

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: Dating as a plus-size woman has been exhausting for Haleigh Berkshire. Sure, she's only twenty-five, but she's been doing it for a decade, and she's beginning to think it's time for a sabbatical. It doesn't help that she's been madly in love with her best friend, Jack, for years--but one disastrous weekend in college taught her the hard way that they'll never be more than friends. 

With her sister's engagement party fast approaching, and her friends and family nagging her about a plus-one, Haleigh and Jack do what they do best: scheme. Haleigh agrees to let her friends and family set her up with ten men or women--and she's sure that, once none of them prove to be good matches, her loved ones will finally let her fade into romantic retirement in peace. 

To her surprise, some of Haleigh’s dates go better than expected, and for the first time in forever, she's actually having fun. Until Jack starts breaking all the rules they’d made to mend their friendship in college. He produces a laundry list of flaws for everyone she likes, crashes some of her nights out, and finally shocks her by throwing himself into the mix. Dating Jack has always been the dream, but Haleigh is afraid of the reality. Is it worth risking her best friend for something that may have never been meant to be

Book Review: The Husbands

📚 Book Review: The Husbands

Holly Gramazio

📚 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

📚 My Review: I loved the first couple chapters of this book. It's a unique premise and it had a few LOL moments.. but then it got a bit slow paced in the middle and by the last 1/4 of the book it was just more of the same and I kind of lost interest. That said, the last chapter wrapped everything up nicely and was super cute!

📚 Goodreads Synopsis: When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There’s only one problem—she’s not married. She’s never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they’ve been together for years.

As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can’t remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you’ve taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?