Hello!
I’m a few days late. Shocking I know.
I have been reading and reorganizing— that’s kind of my default setting.
Some fun news! You may notice that the books I mention are now linked to Ripped Bodice. My bloggy blog is an affiliate of them now! So if you want to read any of the books I mention and click through to buy it there then I will get some $$ or some book credits.
If you don’t know their story it’s two sisters who first opened The Ripped Bodice LA and sell mainly romance. I learned about them during the pandemic when I ordered this amazing tote bag from them that says “A feminist reads whatever the fuck she wants.”
Now there’s a Brooklyn spot which I of course visited when I went to NYC last year. I bought my first Tessa Bailey there (It Happened One Summer) and Ashley Poston’s second book (The Seven Year Slip). It is so cute.
Now let’s get to the:
Book Nook!
Finlay Donovan Series: I mentioned this series last blog and I finished the ones written so far, one more is coming out this year. I still love them. Fun, funny, and mysterious. I think there’s 3 more slated.
Very Sincerely Yours: This is another Kerry Winfrey one. I really enjoyed her first two. This one was okay. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. It’s about a woman putting her life back together and learning to speak for herself, find her self without a man and standing up for yourself.
The True Love Experiment: I’d not read Christina Lauren before and my friend Carrie suggested I try her. This was my first one and I LOVED it.
A romance writer with some block ends up the star of a reality show to find love and a dreamy producer forced to make the show find their ways to each other and sparks fly. It’s a great journey and really fun characters.
My Favorite Half Night Stand: My 2nd Christina Lauren. Very different vibe, still loved it.
One woman has 4 best guy friends. Then there’s a half night stand. Then online dating shenanigans. The characters are so fun. The four guys are so different and the tropes and miscommunications that pop up are actually pretty believable.
The Light Pirate: Oh wow. This one is such a good one. It’s our latest book club pick and it’s so fascinating and well written and it really makes you think.
It’s set in segments, starting in modern day Florida during a hurricane warning and then through vignettes ahead through the years. It tackles family and expectations and climate change and dedication and what are we all doing?
The characters are rich and flawed and you can’t step away from them. Highly recommend.
Butcher and Blackbird: Y’all. This is a romance about two serial killers who only kill other serial killers and fall in love. THIS IS IN MY WHEELHOUSE.
It was dark and twisty and gory and romantic? It’s the first of at least 2 books. The next one is about the brother of one of the main characters in this. But there’s a 3rd brother so I think there will be more.
They meet over a dead body. They banter, there’s LOTS of tension and a nice element of psychologically behind the murders. Not for the faint of heart.
Not in Love: This is another pre-read on NetGalley. I just finished it last night so I haven’t posted my full review on there yet. But I will tomorrow. This is the latest Ali Hazelwood (coming out in June). I’ve talked about Ali being one of my gateway Romance authors after I grabbed her first book at a book swap. Since then I’ve read them all.
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Like her other work this has a healthy dose of science and patents and the political side of science which is always interesting to me since it is so foreign to my life experiences. She always makes those aspects very accessible and in this one I especially love the very human motivations she gives the heroine for her field of study.
There’s also typically a neurodivergent element to one of the main characters and in this case it’s the heroine. I love the awareness these characters bring to people who may not be aware/interact with to broaden horizons for everyone.
Weekly Wrap:
What else have I loved this week?
I finally went to the new Fulton Street Books location and got some delicious coffee and a non-fiction book on local journalism I can’t wait to dive into. I am DEFINITELY going back for sandwiches. The expanded menu looks delicious.
Their first location was cute and cozy, but the added space really makes the new spot much more of a community hub. Sitting there on a Sunday afternoon as people were in and out and met and congregated was really nice.
I was also really stressed after work last week so I decided to order some Goop wipes and burn off a few layers of skin. I LOVE these microdermabrasion wipes. I use them once a week before bed. I’d been out for a while but they’re really worth it. Someone who saw a picture of me from 2012 said I don’t look like I’ve aged so 1) Thanks Brit! and B) Let’s keep burning off that skin!
I also got to spearhead the annual 2 Cares event at work and so many of my co-workers signed up to help at one of the non-profits we partnered with. Ugh. I loved it so much.
Here’s a look at it.
Ok… I think that’s all I got this week. Let me know what you’re reading!