thoughts on books

Category: Romance

  • never over by clare gilmore

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    This fall we have a plethora of new releases in the second chance romance genre. Maybe there is just something about the season that asks us to start again. A dual-timeline, music industry romance, Never Over feels small town rather than Los Angeles fame— Paige Lancaster is the youngest of five sisters and lives in Tennessee. Finding an opportunity for songwriting, the record executive wants her to get to the emotional place where she was when writing the songs about her breakup with Liam.

    This is where the plot goes a little rom-com- she finds Liam and although they’ve been in touch, suggests that they date again so that she can find her heartbreak. Paige has always been in the shadow of her sisters and best friend Maysie, While the situation may seem far-fetched to some; there isn’t a lot that is dependent on the set up. Clare Gilmore takes the time to allow the reader to understand Paige and Liam’s connection. Liam is independent and sex-positive, but Paige feels different to him, he really wants to spend time with her.

    Audiobook review; this is a great book to listen to. The pacing lends itself well to listening and I was able to follow the story and the romantic connection. I appreciated the way all of Paige’s sisters had individual personalities and things going on in their lives. There is one narrator – Carly Robins- and she did a great Southern accent. Her performance had heart and depth.

    Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for the ALC. book to be published October 27, 2025.

  • like in love with you by emma alban

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    A steamy historical sapphic romance – in Jane Austen’s Northern England, Bridgerton, except gay. Rosalie and Catherine meet, knowing this season they are both prospects for the same eligible bachelor, Mr Dean. Their mothers used to be best friends before a falling out in their own season. Early on in the narrative the girls find attraction for each other, and set up events that ruin the prospective courtships.

    This is my third Emma Alban novel and I have really enjoyed them all. It is romance and a creative “what if” scenario so that we can thoroughly enjoy the nostalgia and romance of this time period in a way that allows for inclusion of everyone. This is an idealized 19th century England. So instead of queer people being closeted and mentally depressed their entire lives, there are pockets of people that do understand their queerness.

    Although it is lighthearted and very romantic, I think this theme is also a patient warning for us as to how easy it is to build cultural values. Both Rosalie and Catherine are great characters in their own right, the minor characters are nuanced and their parents in strong relationships.

    It’s a lovely universe to escape into!

    Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC. Book to be published 1/14/26

  • stranger things have happened by kasie west

    Sutton is back in her hometown because her mother was in a car accident and dealing with concussion symptoms. After being there only 2 weeks, her boyfriend is supposed to come to visit. But 5 minutes before he is due to arrive, he calls her to end their 2 year relationship. He says he isn’t a priority for her, but instead work and her apartment. Sutton owns a restaurant at only 28 years old. She reconnects with her childhood best friend, who argues with her fiance about if they should attend therapy before getting married. They make a bet- if Sutton and his brother Elijah can pose as a couple for 4 therapy sessions and the therapist cannot tell they are not actually engaged, then he will go.

    It’s a fake dating/engaged scenario that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but you know what? Fake dating scenarios never do. It is a fun trope that never happens in real life.

    This is a lighthearted and well paced rom com, I particularly enjoyed the romance, but also the side stories. Sutton is struggling with being away from the restaurant and in how to balance management with leadership. It is amazing that she is able to own a restaurant in Los Angeles at only 28, but she is insecure about her reviews. Also, the way she cared for her mother, despite her mother being angry and critical was incredibly touching. Her mom, at times, was a frustrating character but over the course of the book I grew a fondness for her, or at least pity.

    Elijah is a good guy, I can see why Sutton fell for him, although falling so fast after ending a 2 year relationship seemed like a detriment of her own character. I enjoyed Kasie West’s first adult debut and although I was given a free e-ARC from Saturday Books and NetGalley, I have already pre-ordered this as a trophy. I think this is a story I will want to return to.

    Overall, it is a fun romcom, but a little bit deeper and stronger character building. High recommend.

    Book to be published April 14, 2026. This is my 394th review to NetGalley.

    Reviews PublishedCamp NetGalley 202580%200 Book Reviews

  • in time with you by kristin dwyer

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    For fans of Ashley Poston and Lynn Painter, this is a very classic magical realism YA romance. Short on details of world building, this is best read as you let go of trying to understand the time travel consequences and think of it as a journey towards trying to change the past to the “meant to be.”

    Nieve lost her boyfriend Carter in a drowning accident. They are only sophomores in college and somewhat legacies, kids with money and connections. Nieve blames herself, and Carters best friend Max blamed himself. Very quickly into the narrative, Nieve wakes up a year earlier in her dorm at the start of freshman year before she met Carter and Max. She is determined to not let him get into the water this time, but seems to start to feel differently about Max.

    This book is for everyone who has ever thought, “I couldn’t everything better if only I could go back in time.” This one is lighter on the spice but not entirely what I would consider closed door. Less sci fi and more magical realism, you won’t want to spend time hoping for lengthy explanations and world building, but enjoy the banter and characterization.

    Most time travel stories are either “butterfly effect” or “final destination,” and this story explores them both. The heroines journey is a well paced one, causing Nieve to grow and mature to be able to understand both versions of herself, what she wants, and wherein lies her true north.

    I also appreciated complicated storylines of light academia and deep family estrangement situations. Nieve has a close cousin and grandmother Grandee in both timelines.

    Thank you to NetGalley and st martins press for the arc! Book to be published March 23, 2026

  • no matter what by cara bastone

    Another stunning and poignant novel about grief recovery from Cara Bastone. Go into this one expecting 80% LitFic and 20% Romance. It’s only romance in the sense that being in love is a constant when life throws us some curveballs. The book is one woman’s journey to understanding that she is suffering from PTSD due to an accident that happened a year ago. Although Roz and Vin weren’t killed, they did have some physical recovery. But the mental and spiritual recovery is taking much longer.

    Roz is finding herself again through drawing. Not an artist, she wants to be able to learn about how she sees the world and signs up for a drawing class with nude models. Her husband Vin moved into the guest room months ago, and now she is blindsided by seeing a new lease. She inherently knows he has decided to move out.

    In many ways, this is the classic miscommunication trope, but in others, it is so so so much bigger. Roz and Vin are both suffering since the accident, and they can’t connect with each other. It’s another big old advertisement for therapy. Not even couples therapy, but they both need help individually.

    Another thing I really enjoyed was learning about Roz’s job and how she would try to make new recipes out of leftover food. The organization takes food that is being discarded from grocery, restaurant and farmers market and she tries to figure out ways to use it. There is something so purely symbolic about that, that she was an artist who chose to make sustenance out of trash. As someone who grew up thinking it is a sin to throw away food, seeing leftovers in my refrigerator is incredibly stress inducing. Roz, likewise, was taught young that wasting food is a sin. It is just very cool that she did something productive with that.

    Thank you NetGalley and Dial Delights for the ARC. Book to be published March 17, 2026.

  • every version of you by natalie messier

    Joey is a workaholic corporate lawyer without much of a life. She goes on dates periodically but doesn’t let anyone in because she is secretly in love with Ellie (Elijah) the one who got away. She suddenly dies but gets a second chance at life and she goes back to college in 2012 to have a second chance at love. But instead she finds herself drawn to Alex, a billionaire capitalist that Ellie is friends with, a man she hates. Back in her 18 year old body with a 32 year old soul, she changes so much of what she wishes she could have done differently the first time.

    If I could go back in time to my college days I’d have to do things the same so I could have my kids. But I definitely would find a way to see Whitney Houston, Prince and Michael Jackson live.

    This is well paced and written. The back and forth between her 2026 mind and what she knows in 2012 is a running bit that doesn’t get old. If you enjoy time travel or second chance magical realism romance this is a book you should be reading. There are a lot of characters, many of whom play the same role and the metaphysical aspect of this doesn’t get too deep. I enjoyed the first 25% of the book the most. There were some surprises and twists near the end that were different than most time travel stories.

    Thanks to NetGalley and gallery books for the ARC. Book to be published 4/28/26.

  • second chance cinema by thea weiss

    A very fun, creative, and emotional story about the memories we hold. A contemporary magical realism romance for fans of Kate Robb and Ashley Poston. Will we still be lovable if they knew everything about us? And I mean, everything?

    Ellie and Drake are about to be married when they come across a theatre that operates, seemingly, only for them. The theatre shows “The Story of Us” which is a collection of 10 weekly movies that show both of their lives as a film. Starting with them as babies, the movies progress over time showing the most memorable periods of their lives. They agree to continue to see the movies, week after week, and promise to not let anything they see change the way they feel for each other.

    Of course, there are secrets, and reasons to be jealous and even angry. There are some memorable side characters, like the manager of the theatre, Natalie. When I first heard the premise for this book, I thought this would be kind of a nightmare. I think we all have episodes in our past that we would rather not remember. Something I was curious about while reading is- are we actually seeing what happened? Or are we seeing it as Drake and Ellie remember it? They say that when we remember something, we are technically remembering the last time that we were remembering it. So our memories are notoriously unreliable. Something to consider for this story.

    I found the plot fascinating, the characters are good, particularly Ellie. Drake was less intriguing of a lead, but the magical elements made up for it. The prologue was intriguing and in the back of my mind, how it comes full circle in the epilogue is a neat twist.

    This would be a great book to read for a book club, I think it would encourage great and deep conversations.

    Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC. Book to be published October 7,2025

  • this will be interesting by eb asher

    EB Asher fans, it is time to return to Mythria! and this time we get to adventure beyond its borders. Beatrice and Clare are minor characters in this one, but we dive deep on old and new characters alike.

    3 POV;
    Queen Thessia, recently married to Hugh. He likes her but doesn’t love her. Their honeymoon becomes a Quest.
    River; a hired assassin who is planning to kill Galwell.
    Galwell; back from the dead and 10 years younger than his former peers. Is he Galwell the great or Galwell the grateful?

    EB Asher has singlehandedly (triple handedly?, lol) created the cozy romantasy genre. This book is Pixar’s Onward meets The Count of Monte Cristo meets Pirates of the Caribbean. Expect laughter, a lot of camp, and a creative blending of feudal society and our modern culture. As someone who rarely reads fantasy, I can struggle with the world building and in being able to visualize and remember the creatures and characters. I find this book to be incredibly, even compulsively, readable. Low spice, high nostalgia, and all the fun.

    Do you need to read “This Will Be Fun” in order to enjoy this one? No. But it will spoil it for you, so I recommend reading it first. I found this second book to be more adventurous, more mysterious and even funnier. It is a found family adventure for reluctant coworkers to lovers. The anticipation is real!

    My Hollywood cast
    Elizabeth Olsen, as River
    Emma Watson, as Thessia
    Chris Hemsorth, as Hugh
    Noah Centineo, as Galwell
    Alexandra Daddario, as Celine

    thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC. Book to be published March 24, 2026.

  • the austen affair by madeline bell

    How many Austen re-tellings do we need? SHUT UP HATERS, AT LEAST ONE MORE THAN WE ALREADY HAVE.

    Okay, so besides being enemies to lovers, this isn’t a re-telling, it is literally a time travel novel and doesn’t follow an Austen format, but Austen herself makes a cameo.

    Tess Bright has left her TV show to make a Jane Austen movie with co-star Hugh. They really get under each others skin, he doesn’t think an American TV star is worthy to do a British classic, and she thinks he is pompous. Tess has recently lost her mother, who adored Austen, and doing this movie makes her feel closer to her mom. An unexplained electricity accident puts them both back in the 1800’s in their period costumes. They are in and around Hugh’s family and they mistake him for his great-great-great-grandfather. Which is insane as you have 31 other sets of DNA in there (?) but for the sake of romance, let’s pretend they are identical.

    What follows is a funny series of misunderstandings and cast of characters. The author has some points to make about how far we have come (and not) since this time. Hugh and Tess use their research to help them assimilate into the culture, all the while working together to find a way home, which they seem indecently confident they can get back to the present time. Naturally, as they work together they find commonalities and slowly fall in love.

    I really liked Tess and I felt her emotions- Hugh, as a Brit, is a little more buttoned up, but dedicated to his craft. I really enjoyed the little boy, who was sick and then recovered. He was a very cute character, and I love the way that the audiobook narrator voiced him and all of the British accents. Only one narrator on this one but she was very engaging and really allowed Tess vulnerability in her inner dialogue.

    Read if you like;
    Enemies to Lovers
    Austen theming
    Recent loss of parent
    Time Travel – fish out of water stories

    Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ALC. Book to be published September 16, 2025.

  • cherry baby by rainbow rowell

    I am blown away by how truly wonderful this book is. I think it’s Rainbow Rowell’s best book. I rarely rate an ARC with five stars, because my rule is that if I rate it five stars I am committing to re-read it upon pub date. And I can’t wait to re-read this one. I’ve already preordered it. It is ultimately a pretty sad book, but it’s also beautiful, strikingly original, and very original.

    This book is the perfect example of creating such slot-on realistic characters and then just letting them be. Not forcing the characters into situations. This book is not at all formulaic— we are much more used to a well-defined “first act/ second act/ third act” and this book does not follow that. The characters and the descriptions of their internal thoughts are the real star of the book.

    The book tackles what it means to be a plus size woman today, it approaches the issue of GLP1 medications with a lot of raw emotion. I haven’t seen a book yet that tackles the dynamic of how fat people view the widespread use of weight loss medications. I can’t tell you how much I related to Cherry and I just sobbed at some of her experiences. I also loved how her family was legalistic from a religious standpoint but she still lived them and they still had great relationships. The sister group text thread chapters were some of my favorite parts of the book.

    If you aren’t yet where Cherry is in her journey of fat acceptance, the experience of her fat phobia may bother some. For me, it was incredibly validating and timely. I will also say this book has much more sexytime parts than Rainbow Rowell’s other books.

    Also- there is a dog in it that I loved. Her name is Stevie and she is a Newfoundland-Pyrenees mix.

    Situational divorce drama was really creative and original. For example, Cherry and Tom trying to separate their belongings, and mostly arguing about wanting the other one to take the item, and not wanting to take it themselves. Not wanting to give it to the goodwill because they like it but they don’t want to have it. So they try to make the other one take it. I can totally see that happening!! I don’t want to give away anything, but Cherry arguing with her sister Hope about Hope taking Monjauro and lying about it. Wow I just sobbed at that scene. They were both so hurt and I could completely see where they were both coming from.

    This book is unapologetically itself. I absolutely loved the ending.

    Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins William Morrow for the ARC. Book to be published 4/13/26