thoughts on books

Category: Romance

  • next time will be our turn by jesse q sutano

    I am unwell- THAT ENDING! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

    Izzy is talking to her beloved grandmother Nainai, who is an accomplished woman in Indonesia. Nainai has just entered the Chinese New Year party with a tall beautiful woman on her arm and shared a public kiss. The scandal!

    And so the story jumps back to 1996 when Nainai (whose name is Magnolia) is 16 and following her big sister Iris to Los Angeles. Magnolia is smart but insecure, brilliant but impulsive.

    Themes of found family, the bond of sisterhood and a gigantic criticism of patriarchal norms and purity culture, this book has a very ambitious goal to hit and knocks it out of the park. It has elements of romance but is truly, instead, Magnolia’s coming of age story. The themes change and attack culture both in the US and in her homeland. The time jumps are seamless and get right to the heart of the questions we ask… what traditions make sense to carry with us and what is best left behind?

    Five stars. I usually reserve fives for books that both surprise me and make me cry. This story is extremely engaging. But seriously, is there a genre Jesse Q Sutano can’t write??

    Critics will say… “how corny.” SHUT UP CHEESE HATERS SONE OF US HAVE HEARTS

    Thanks to @netgalley and Berkeley he for the ARC. Book to be published November 11, 2025.

  • kitty st clair’s last dance by kate robb

    Jules and Reeves meet at a beach party and there is instant chemistry. A wrong phone number causes him to unintentionally ghost her, only to show up 2 years later. At this point Jules is working at Sunnyvale, an assisted living facility. She has great relationships with the residents but is shocked to learn that Kitty St Clair has bequeathed her an abandoned dance hall. But Jules’ dream is to become a doctor. Should she sell it to developers and open her community up to gentrification so she can go to med school?

    Then- out of the blue- she gets Kitty’s diary from her youth, there is a bit of a love triangle- and ghost Kitty is also there via the diary, Tom Riddle style.

    I really loved Reeve, he is a good book boyfriend. It’s a worthy plot although a bit predictable. If you like a magical realism romcom, Kate Robb is one of the best. There is good banter and fun side characters.

    3.5 stars

    Thanks to NetGalley and Dial press for the ARC. Book to be released October 7, 2025.

  • slow burn summer by josie silver

    A contemporary fiction story about a woman who re-discovers herself after a heartbreaking divorce and empty nest. The cover suggests a romance, this book is not that romantic. The plot is a bit all over the place, but it is well written and easy to understand.

    Kate was a soap actress in the UK who threw it all away to get married at 19, now her daughter is 19 and she is back to her old agent’s office. Her old agent has died and his son has taken over, although he doesn’t like being an agent and isn’t much of a character.

    They hire Kate to be a ghost author- to pretend to be the author of a romantic book that becomes a best seller. It is written by a famous author who doesn’t want to be associated with the book but we don’t know him.

    This book is really about Kate, coming to terms with her new life; deciding what to share with the public. There is a tiny bit of romance although I didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the two. She does have a great sister who is a god side character.

    I liked it but I didn’t love it. Weird plot elements kept being introduced at all points throughout the story and it felt a bit chaotic.

    The title is meaningless, it isn’t a slow burn, I am not sure that the book even takes place in the summer. Just a personal pet peeve that I feel like sometimes publishers take a book title out of a hat.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Dell for the ARC. Book to be published June 10, 2025.

  • let them stare by jonathan van ness and julie murphy

    Infinity stars; I loved this— it is a ghost story / non-binary MC / small town Pennsylvania/ YA romcom … and I know not everyone enjoys some of those elements… but ignore those biases because this book is delightful.

    Sully can’t wait to leave Hearst, PA; after high school graduation they have a fun new internship with an influencer in New York City. But just as their new life is about to start, the internship falls through and they are stuck with no job and no car. So what better time to go thrifting? And because karma rewards those without hope, they are rewarded with a super rare, vintage, extremely valuable Butler bag. (Think of a vintage Birkin because I don’t think a Butler bag is a thing)

    Lo and behold the handbag is haunted with the ghost of Rufus,
    a queer diva who has been erased from the history of Hearst- so now it up to Sully to uncover and tell their story.

    I love Julie Murphy- she wrote my favorite in the Meant To Be Series, “If the Shoe Fits” and other romcoms with a plus sized/ thick hottie FMC.

    Queer Eyes’ Jonathan Van Ness first novel- I know them from their hair care only, but I am a fan.

    I laughed a lot at the dialogue between Sully – a modern day 18 year old, and Rufus who asks too many questions. I was really enraptured by the historical love story between Rufus and Robby and finding out as they did what happened in the 1950s. I was absolutely rooting for Sully all the way, a snarky and confident kid, a great friend.

    This is a happy ending with a lot of realism about our current state- and a lot of respect and integration of queer history. We simultaneously have so much to be grateful for and so much to keep fighting for. This book reminds me of a quote from Steel Magnolias “Laughter through tears is the best emotion.”

    Indeed.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC. Book to be published May 20, 2025.

    **a best book of 2025**
    ***a best LGBTQ book of 2025***

  • what happens in amsterdam by rachel lynn solomon

    Pure romance about a girl having a quarter life crisis- when Dani’s boyfriend Jace was cheating on her, she forwarded raunchy emails to the whole company. Jace got a slap on the wrist but Dani was let go. So with no job and no boyfriend, she got a break-up haircut and decided to move to Amsterdam. She struggles a bit at first with a basement apartment and a suspicious company to work for. But then she runs into her first real boyfriend Wouter, who came to LA as a foreign exchange student in high school. Turns out sparks are still there!

    There is a lot to love about this novel, I really loved it. Dani was born a micro-preemie and has bad lung problems and also a port-wine birthmark all across her face. So life has not always been easy for her. And she has jumped around from job to job, fell bass ackwards into her major in college, then hence her field, and also picks up hobbies only to put them down when she isn’t a natural. Great chemistry and I will warn you, it will make you want to visit Amsterdam!

    Read if you like; (Tropes/minor spoilers below)
    Second Chance Romance
    One Bed
    Forced Proximity
    Fake Dating
    Chronic illness representation

    Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC. Book to be published May 6, 2025.

  • great big beautiful life by emily henry

    Part romance, part mystery, part family drama, this book will have you reading late into the night. Emily Henry has definitely branched out from her typical Beach read, this book is much more complex and the characters are so well drawn. Alice got a tip that Margaret Ives, who went into hiding decades ago, was making art under an assumed name on a Georgian Island. She uses her journalistic integrity and hunts her down, this is HUGE. The Ives family is incredibly wealthy, a publishing empire based on Margaret’s great grandfather during the gold rush. But Margaret is known for marrying an Elvis type rock and roll star, and after being married for 4 years, he tragically died. 

    Alice goes to visit with Margaret and ghost write her memoir, but then finds out this is a competition, Pulitzer Prize winning writer Hayden is also on the island for the exact same reason. Hayden and Alice, despite being rivals, get to know each other and split interview time with Margaret.

    This book jumps back and forth between the romance between the writers and in Margaret telling Alice the entire story of her life, starting with her great great grandfather Lawrence. I enjoyed BOTH storylines. There was some spice after a lot of chemistry and funny banter between Alice and Hayden. There were some surprises and reveals the whole way through.

    I was lucky enough to get this audio on Libby at the same time as I got my pre-ordered hardback copy. I really enjoy books that I get to listen along with as I read. Julia Whelan is back to narrate this one, no other narrators as the entire book is from Alice’s POV. I loved this story.

  • not safe for work by nisha tuli

    This is a cute workplace romance- enemies to lovers, forced proximity, one bed.

    Trishara is an engineer and one of the only women in a male dominated field, her bitter rival at work is Rafe Gallagher, the boss’s son. She has been passed over for a promotion 3 times in 5 years. When she is selected for a leadership development program, she is thrilled to spend 3 weeks in Hawaii even though it is work. She is less than thrilled to learn that the other person selected for the program is Rafe. Because she has had difficult and traumatic experiences with workplace romance in the past, she has sworn off getting too personal with anyone in the office.

    I really enjoyed the drama and the overall plot of this romance, I felt a lot of chemistry between Tris and Rafe and as she got to know him better it was apparent they were falling for each other. The misogyny in the office was apparent and definitely angering at times, but this met a really satisfying conclusion. The setting of Hawaii was glorious, this book is a lot of my own private fantasies rolled into one- telling off the boss, finally being seen as the leader you are, being desired.

    In parts, Tris seemed a little spoiled- you should not even JOKE about burning Louis Vuitton luggage- but overall she was a likeable heroine that was easy to root for. Rafe was not a one dimensional MBA bro, as we learn more about him the reader sees him more clearly as Tris is seeing him more clearly- she has judged him due to her own insecurities and not as things really are. There were several really humorous chapters and definitely some spicy ones.

    Audiobook review- all one narrator, this book doesn’t switch into Rafe’s POV so we have all Tris. I appreciate Hachette audio and in choosing a narrator that has south asian heritage. Her performance was snarky, fun and light hearted. The pacing was perfect for audio.

    thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC. Book to be published May 20, 2025

  • if all else sails by emma st clair

    A very sweet story in the closed door romance genre, this is my favorite Emma St. Clair book to date. The book starts out with a very funny premise, Josie is detained by the police because Wyatt thinks she is a reporter. In reality, she is his best friend‘s sister. He is recovering from an lisfranc injury, as a hockey player. Then Josie’s brother hires her, a school nurse, to help be a companion for Wyatt as he mourns his uncle’s death.

    Read this one if you like;
    Enemies to lovers
    Hockey romance
    Brothers best friend
    Dogs
    Sailing
    Miscommunication

    The audiobook is also well done, I liked both narrators. At first I found the female narrator to be a bit boring, but soon I realized that this tone matches Josie as she is a pretty strait laced person. I loved the male narrator, his performance made me laugh and made Wyatt come alive.

    I love a closed door romance and the sailing aspect didn’t come into play until the third act, but it had a nice flow and pacing. There were some cute situational comedic elements. I liked the internal dialogue as Josie and Wyatt are falling for each other.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Zondervan Audio for the ALC. book to be released August 4, 2025

  • undeclared by sherry mann

    22 year old Landon is a devoted dad to adorable 2 year old Sadie, and works as a package handler at UPS. He’s a college dropout after being an undeclared major, sort of drifting through life day in and day out. But then his wife Beth is killed in a car accident. And he isn’t sure why she wasn’t alone in the car.

    A family drama driven novel with romantic aspects, this book is great for fans of Katherine Center and Caitlin Weaver; very relatable dialogue, time spent in the part of falling in love that confuses us all. Toddler Sadie is extraordinarily realistic and endearing, one of the best written children I’ve read.

    And we know how Landon is feeling juuuuust a moment before he figures it out too. What makes this a five star read for me are the characters- the in-laws who require a weekly visit on Sundays causing Landon to miss the Eagles, his buddy Digger who is loyal and supportive, and his slightly overbearing mother. Perhaps my favorite minor character is Pearl, a woman in Landon’s grief group who lost her lover of many years.

    Painfully constructed and funny, I simply loved this book. These characters will stay with me for a long time. This is one of those novels I would not have known about if it wasn’t for #bookstagram which is the world’s biggest book club. And what is a book club but a support group of misfits who have all finally found each other?

    What I googled while reading this book
    -Is Disney World open on Christmas?

    • Laura Ashley fashion
      -Mr Noodle
      -Were the eagles good in 2012

    QOTD: If you have kids, what character did they LOVE when they were two? My son loved Thomas the tank engine and my daughter loved Daniel Tiger!

    bookreaders #booksbooksbooks #undeclared #booktok #romancebookstagram #bookstagram

  • the best worst thing by lauren oakie

    A contemporary romance that tackles difficult topics, The Best Worst Thing is about Nicole, who has a seemingly perfect life. A handsome, successful husband, a popular podcast about their fertility journey, and endless resources to invest into IVF and surrogacy. She tells herself that she doesn’t miss her career and her former coworkers, like her work bestie Logan. But when she walks in on her husband with another woman, her world crumbles.

    Second Chance romance (with dual timelines)
    Infidelity
    Fertility Issues
    Workplace romance
    The One that Got Away
    Some spice
    Quarrels with exclamation points!
    Supportive friends

    At times I was not on board with Nicole’s choices, I liked that the book handled infidelity in a mature way with lots of different viewpoints – what should Nicole do? She is in a difficult situation and her choice is not as easy as it may seem. Logan is fully in love with her, and he is one of those “book boyfriends” who completely ruins the real world male population for you.

    She loves reading and he actually reads her favorite books. Only my mom does that! Boys would never! But Logan does. The epilogue is very sweet and endearing.

    Great for fans of Elissa Sussman and Abby Jimenez

    Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC. Book to be published October 14, 2025.