thoughts on books

Category: Romance

  • love is a war song by danica nava

    Avery Fox is a former Disney show star who now, in her early 20’s, has reinvented herself as a pop star with her catchy dance single “I need a warrior.” But when she poses provocatively on the cover of Rolling Stone wearing a feather warbonnet, the backlash is swift and strong. She is dropped from her advertising opportunities and her song stops being streamed. To cope with her being canceled, she escapes to her grandmother Lottie’s ranch in Oklahoma. And this fish-out-of-water story continues with the LA girl working on cleaning horse stables at the ranch.

    Lucas is a cowboy that has no reason to leave the small town and is the most handsome man she has ever seen. Lottie asks him to pick up her granddaughter at the bus station, and he is surprised to find Avery Fox, he hates everything she represents. They reach a mutually beneficial agreement to help the local financial situation and he teaches her about what it means to share a culture and heritage and community.

    I appreciate Danica Nava’s writing, I think she writes great dialogue and good pacing. I jumped at the chance to read this book as her sophomore effort after last year’s “The Truth According to Ember.” This is a stronger story, and examines themes of what it means to be held accountable for one’s choices and finding your place and understanding where you come from. Jeff Zentner examined this last year with “Colton Gentry’s Third Act” as a singer is canceled because of his stance on gun laws.

    This angle made me think about the entertainment industry and how we are so quick to self-righteously become indignant at the face of the issue. In this book, Avery is a young girl basically doing what her manager and the record company is telling her to do. She is a product, not a producer. I have learned that there are producers of racist ideas and there are consumers of racist ideas, and our accountability needs to be on those producers. I was disgusted, as most of us were, ten years ago when Kendall Jenner was in a Pepsi ad that suggested Pepsi be the answer to racism. But unfortunately most of us were upset with Kendall Jenner, who was probably doing what she was told and a product. That would be like me being mad at my bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup.

    I love how Lucas and Avery came together to understand each other. They had great chemistry and this was a perfect setting and set-up. Although Avery is in her early 20s it does read more like a YA book, there is one open door spicy scene but easily skippable if this is not your thing.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Berkeley for the ARC. I was gifted this copy in exchange for an honest review. Book to be published July 22, 2025.

  • the girl most likely to by julie tieu

    Miscommunication, Second Chance romance. A unique premise that takes place almost entirely at their 20th class reunion. Rachel was the girl most likely to succeed in high school, and even though it’s been 20 years, she still remembers those who were her biggest competitors. She has a not so glamorous life in the entertainment industry, and she has just been laid off from her job. She finally made the trades, and it was because of her layoff. Her friend (who is an actress) hired her short term to be her assistant, getting coffee and laundry. This allows for her to stay very close to the entertainment industry and to make it seem like her life is a bit more glamorous than it is. Just in time for her 20th reunion, she reconnects with Danny,. They had one special moment in 2023, and then nothing came of it. Not that she thinks about that much anymore.

    There’s a lot of nostalgia in this one, depending on where you were around 2003, you will see and hear a lot of things that jump off the page and make you laugh. It’s really the details. I’m not a big fan of the miscommunication trope typically, but with teenagers they have miscommunication just about every day. I liked the way that in my copy the parts from high school were in bold print, allowing me to understand when we were in the past.

    There aren’t chapter headings that say the years, or “then” chapters and “now” chapters. Because of this, the audiobook gave me pause a few times. It is difficult to tell which decade you’re in without title headings. That said, this is my very favorite audiobook narrator, Natalie Naudus. I so appreciate that Publishers. Choose a narrator that is Chinese to voice a book about Chinese characters. Natalie Naudus is a real pro, I love the way that she uses pauses and inflection in her performance. Side note: she is also the author of a wonderful queer YA book Gay The Pray Away. Five stars.

    Rachel is not at all boring, she really is flawed yet likable. You’re rooting for her and you understand why she is trying to embellish her career to her former classmates. If you like a second chance romance, pick this one up.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Avon for the ARC. Book to be published February 18, 2025.

  • you between the lines

    A really intriguing and interesting setting- a prestigious MFA poetry workshop and our heroine Leigh is surprised that her high school crush Will is also included. Her parents have separated and his father has passed, each of them dealing with their changing families and grief. They are also somewhat rivals in that Leigh’s favorite poet is going to award a fellowship at the end of the first year. She still has feeling for him but thinks she is out of his league. Leigh would rather write poetry about pop culture references in a clever way than to get feedback on anything super personal.

    I loved this book and most of its tropes, Leigh was insecure and a bit whiny. Absolutely loved the minor characters of the others in the MfA program. Hearing the dialogue of criticism from the other writers in the workshop was tough, this kind of environment can be kind of brutal to those of us that are sensitive to criticism. The conflict was mostly Leigh not feeling good enough. The book was pretty personal, and I would say it was a really special bonus that we were able to read wonderful poetry. The author does have an MFA in poetry. And I can say that I have read her truly wonderful poetry that she cleverly hid inside of a romcom. After 1600 book reviews, none of them have been for poetry, but about a third are romances. Well played. five stars to the poetry, four stars to the audiobook and the rest of the story.

    While I didn’t love the Leigh voice, I loved the other voices and the conclusion. The narrator overall was well paced and engaging.

    Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC. Book to be published February 18, 2025.

  • the next chapter

    How cute is this cover! The Next Chapter is a double-entendre. It is the name of the bookstore where Jude works, and where she meets Kat. Kat is a former teen actor looking to find the next chapter of her career, to be seen as a Serious Adult Actress by being cast in a theatre production and get over her somewhat troubled career. Kat’s manager is fine with her coming out, and thinks it might help her career and wants to put together a fake relationship. Kat convinces her to “sell” a regular person so that she can go after what her heart wants, which is to make a connection with Jude, where there is a real spark. Soon they are in a relationship, and they go public which is a big adjustment for Jude, who has always led a quiet life. Kat has to come to terms with troubled friendships and relationships in her past and reconcile with who she wants to be.

    This was a fun setting and a good plot- reminiscent of You’ve Got Mail, a celeb and a regular person, younger age couple, overcoming your past. Figuring out what is next. I loved the side characters of the coworkers in the bookstore and even the new owner of the bookstore who we love-to-hate. I didn’t feel as much of a spark as I like to in a rom com, but the characters were pretty well developed. They were both pretty insecure, which made sense based on their age and position in life. I like more of a build up to the relationship. There is some spice, and you will note a TW for eating disorders, but I didn’t think that was too bad. I really hate a 3rd act breakup, it is one of my least favorite tropes, I feel like this is a cheap way to make the grand romantic gesture the feature of your ending scenes. LOVED the epilogue.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press/Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own. Book to be published June 10, 2025.

  • celebrity crush by christy swift

    Jason is Emmy’s celebrity crush and the subject of her NYT bestselling book, #CelebrityCrush. It is veiled portrayal and easily comes out that Jason, who is a TV superhero Hollywood star, is who her novel is based on. Emmy’s dream comes true when her agent sells the movie rights and Jason’s part will be played by Jason. To add to the truly miraculous fantasy, Jason and Emmy will do marketing together for the film. And they play up their relationship for the cameras. So we have forced proximity, insta-love, single mom/dad as our main tropes.

    For fans of Tessa Bailey, similar tropes, similar character-types and spice level.

    This book had a lot of heart but I didn’t love either of the main characters, they came across as whiny and entitled and simplistic. I could do without his chapters that kept describing her “muscular and curvy” body and her suntan. Her internal dialogue referred a lot to his “rock hard body”- I dont know, it was just heavy on the lust language. I liked the book a lot until around 30% but the conflicts were contrived and it went downhill from there.

    I would read another book by the author and liked the setting but this one wasn’t a big win.

    Audiobook narrators did well- particularly the performance of the male narrator, I found it easy to follow. This story does have good pacing so it lends itself well to the audio format.

    Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC. Book to be published 2/11/25.

  • maid for each other by lynn painter

    I am a huge fan of Lynn Painter’s YA Romance, each one is better than the last. Thus far I have a bit disappointed in her Adult RomComs, I just don’t love the pacing. I felt like I never understood or knew the characters very well, but I am happy to say that this Adult Romance definitely has some of the humor, witty banter and the spark that I love in her YA titles.

    Maid For Each Other is a fake dating/ working class girl meets rich guy storyline. The MMC Dex comes from CrashPad, which is a furniture store subsitute for Nebraska Furniture Mart. Similarly a family business purchased by Hathaway Holdings (see “Berkshire Hathaway”) which is run by billionaire Warren Hathaway (see “Warren Buffett”). So Declan “Dex” Powell has the good heart and hard working nature from the family owned business while having access to and rubbing elbows with the elite private equity people. He is also a workaholic and lies about having a girlfriend named “Abby” — coincidentally, our FMC, Abi Mariano, is his housecleaner and has been sleeping at his empty apartment since her apartment was being fumigated. All of the cute coincidence that helps Declan and Abi fall into their fake dating/forced proximity trope happens really quickly in the first few chapters.

    This is very cute and lower spice level- does have swearing but not a lot of spice- I would call it a “fade to black” romance rather than a “clean” romance- just allowing the reader to use their own imagination, easy to do since there were great sparks and sizzle between Declan and Abi.

    If you are looking for a fast paced beach read that will tap into our deepest fantasies, pick up “Maid For Each Other” this summer.

    Thanks to @netgalley and @berkleyromance for the ARC. Book to be published July 15, 2025.

  • the perfect rom com by melissa ferguson

    Hmmm, this one was not a favorite for me. I love a good closed door romance, but the pacing and characterization was all off. While I love a story about the publishing industry, I do not like a girl vs. girl “catfight” with one girl prettier, mean girl, rich privileged “villain.” It is very one dimensional and, I think, a harmful trope to pit women against each other that should be collaborating and partners.

    Our prologue begins with our main female character Bryony, meeting her agent Jack and immediately disliking him. Then the story skips two years and they are best friends. I can’t help but feel like we skipped over the best part of a rom com, which is the relationship building and connection. Bryony is ghostwriting successfully for Amelia- a Paris Hilton entitled type who wrote one cute book then can’t even be bothered to read the ones that Bryony ghost writes for her. I don’t love a story set up with one person we root for and one with no redeeming qualities. The ending was a bit too “deus ex machina.”

    I have liked other books by this author but this one missed the mark.

    I was given a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction. Book to be published February 11, 2025.

  • playing flirty by shameez patel

    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7211329694

    I gave this geek-driven rom com 2 stars for a couple of reasons; mostly that I did not like the main character and I didn’t believe her. The MMC, William, was a little one dimensional. Although I found his actions endearing and lovable, I didn’t know him like I like to. I was missing the chemistry. The relationship between Rose and William’s half brother Shaun was a solid one, Shaun gets engaged to Rose’s female best friend early on in the book. I liked that Rose was good friends with both of them equally and also as a pair. 

    Much of the middle was boring, we don’t see her attraction to her boyfriend Patrick, he treats her terribly and they aren’t right for each other. Although there is a rivals-to-lovers trope, it comes along slow and drags in parts. I couldn’t get used to the prose and it was challenging for me. 

    So while I didn’t love the content, I do want to give the audiobook 3.5 stars- I was gifted an audiobook from Hachette Audio and NetGalley. To separate the content from the narrator, I did feel like the audiobook narrator did a good job of the Rose dialogue. There were longer pauses so I listened at 2.0 speed although I listened 3 times through because I wanted to give me diligence to the audiobook narration separate from the content of the book. While I probably wouldn’t pick up another book from this author, I would happily choose another book by this narrator. 

    Thanks again to Netgalley and Hachette audio. Book was published January 14, 2025.

  • everything’s coming up rosie by courtney walsh

    Rosie went to live her dream in NYC to become a broadway actor, but the best thing she did was play a corpse on Law and Order. On the brink of bankruptcy, she takes a temporary position in Wisconsin at an assisted living facility to cast and direct a production of Cinderella, starring the octogenarian residents.

    Everyone is in love with Booker, the old and young ladies alike. Eventually Rosie falls for Booker and has to decide if she is going to give up the dream of acting on stage or keep going.

    Rosie has a sad (but not overly tragic) backstory. The older crowd has some cranky naysayers and some filled with wisdom. They are a cute side character addition and a fun setting. If I have one criticism I would have liked to see more of the residents, less of Rosie’s insecure internal dialogue.

    I am a fan of Courtney Walsh, she is the master of building chemistry while still keeping the bedroom door closed. It’s not easy to do. But I always end up a little happier when I finish her books.

    Book to be published June 10, 2025. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson fiction for the ARC.

  • unromance by erin connor

    Wow!! This book was so well written, the best book boyfriend, the clever interspersed references to romance tropes. It’s a love letter to the genre!!

    Sawyer broke up with her girlfriend 3 years ago and hasn’t dated since. She’s been a moderately successful romance author, but she has writers block. And it’s set in Chicago!! (Exactly where I listened to it, so it was obviously meant to be).

    Mason very recently broke up with his costar girlfriend, he is a hunky TV doctor and the son of a soap star, Mason really loves love.

    Then the meet cute; they get stuck in an elevator together. The plot goes from there; a one night stand then inevitably running into each other afterwards. Add in Sawyer telling Mason the tropes as they come to life.

    This is really a five star audiobook; easy to follow the plot of audio and well acted. This is multi POV, so the Sawyer narrator and the Mason narrator alternate. I especially enjoyed the Sawyer narrator — it’s always a challenge to do witty banter with one voice, but she does well.

    Full disclosure— I am more of a “fade to black” person so I did skip past the smutty parts. I can’t speak to if they are great or not. It’s a personal preference, just not for me. I’m not saying the spicy parts are bad, I just don’t know, I skipped them.

    Outstanding pop culture references, laugh out loud banter, realistic inner dialogue that bring the characters to life off the stage. Even though this book is about a male and female, I love that Sawyer is bisexual. It’s enough to keep the homophobes away (bye).

    I kept seeing this book all over instagram and I’m grateful I got to listen to it- thanks to NetGalley and hachette audio for the Audio ARC. A best romance of January. (And there are so many great ones!!)