Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders

Title: Under Her Skin

Author: Adriana Anders

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca 2017

Genre: Romance

Pages: 344

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Small Town Romance; Library Love

Spice Meter: 5

His scarred hands are the gentlest I've ever known. If only life were a fairy tale where Beauty got to keep her Beast…

Every morning I wake up and remind myself I am not my past, but beneath my drab clothing hides a secret—proof of the abuse I suffered at the hands of my possessive ex, tattooed on my skin in a lurid reminder of everything I've survived. I'm alone and in hiding, trying to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. I didn't expect healing to come in the form of a rough ex-con whose rage drives him in ways I'll never understand.

Ivan's scars are on the inside—a wounded soul like me. But day by day, this gentle giant proves to me that there are second chances in life, and he deserves them as much as I do. And maybe finding each other will finally allow us to pick up our broken pieces and make something beautiful and new…

CW: Sexual and Domestic Violence (before the book begins, but discussed in detail)

This was one of the books that was on a list of older protagonists. I wanted to find an older protagonist for my book club pick. This one shuffled down the pile and I’m glad it didn’t. I ended up not loving this book very much. Sure we get an older protagonist, but it’s one that’s been on the receiving amount of a shocking amount of domestic and sexual violence. I really had to take some breaks in reading this book and even skimmed a few pages that detailed the violence. It’s a okay story with okay characters, but ultimately, I came to the end of the book hoping that Uma went to therapy instead of jumping into bed with Ivan. Seriously, consensual sex does not “fix” past trauma. I was very conflicted by the ending HEA and really wished that this had taken a much more empowering turn than it did. And the revelations from the neighbor really threw me. I do like black humor, but this seemed to be more a case of people not taking situations seriously.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

Title: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl #2)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: Dandy House 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 364

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

"The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin."

The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.

Carl still has no pants.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game..

I think that I am officially obsessed with this series now. I can’t wait until I can sneak in another hour or two of listening to the adventures of Carl and Donut. The audio is fantastic, full of energy and personality. For this book, the game really begins with the Third Floor. We get to meet some new characters, perhaps new allies, and new enemies. The circus portions were delightfully creepy. I loved the Lovecraftian take on the horrors of the Over City. The reveal of the titular Doomsday Scenario was a great addition to leave you wondering about the next adventure. I cannot wait to see what happens on the Fourth Floor!

Dungeon Crawler Carl

#1 Dungeon Crawler Carl
#2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
#3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbooks
#4 The Gate of the Feral Gods
#5 The Butcher’s Masquerade
#6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

Title: The Fortune Hunter

Author: Daisy Goodwin

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2013

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 473

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; In Case You Missed It - 2013

Empress Elizabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, is the Princess Diana of nineteenth-century Europe. Famously beautiful, as captured in a portrait with diamond stars in her hair, she is unfulfilled in her marriage to the older Emperor Franz Joseph. Sisi has spent years evading the stifling formality of royal life on her private train or yacht or, whenever she can, on the back of a horse.

Captain Bay Middleton is dashing, young, and the finest horseman in England. He is also impoverished, with no hope of buying the horse needed to win the Grand National—until he meets Charlotte Baird. A clever, plainspoken heiress whose money gives her a choice among suitors, Charlotte falls in love with Bay, the first man to really notice her, for his vulnerability as well as his glamour. When Sisi joins the legendary hunt organized by Earl Spencer in England, Bay is asked to guide her on the treacherous course. Their shared passion for riding leads to an infatuation that jeopardizes the growing bond between Bay and Charlotte, and threatens all of their futures.

Another absolutely disappointing book! I was hoping that we would get a glittering portrayal of the Empress of Austria complete with expansive descriptions of time and place. I wanted a more glamorous version of Downtown Abbey. Instead, we focus more on Charlotte and Bay than Sisi and plod through their ridiculous “relationship.” I was thoroughly disgusted with Bay’s treatment of both Charlotte and Sisi and could not imagine what either woman saw in him. He’s nothing special at all. He spends all his lamenting his station in life and expressing love for his horse. Why would an heiress and the Empress of Austria covet a man like that? And there’s the fact that we get little to no information about Sisi throughout the book. She has a tiny waist, likes to hunt, and has ridiculously long hair. None of those things are personality traits and definitely none of those things make her an interesting figure. I really should have just off loaded this book, but you never know until to read it. At least it’s off my shelves.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

Title: Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City's Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation

Author: Brad Ricca

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2017

Genre: Nonfiction - True Crime

Pages: 448

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader; Library Love

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes tells the true story of Mrs. Grace Humiston, the detective and lawyer who turned her back on New York society life to become one of the nation's greatest crime fighters during an era when women weren't even allowed to vote. After graduating from N.Y.U. law school, Grace opened a legal clinic in the city for low-income immigrant clients, and quickly established a reputation as a fierce, but fair lawyer who was always on the side of the disenfranchised.

Grace's motto "Justice for those of limited means" led her to strange cases all over the city, and eventually the world. From defending an innocent giant on death row to investigating an island in Arkansas with a terrible secret about slavery; from the warring halls of Congress to a crumbling medieval tower in Italy, Grace solved crimes in-between shopping at Bergdorf Goodman and being marked for death by the sinister Black Hand. She defended women clients who had killed their attackers and fought the framing of a Baltimore black man at the mercy of a corrupt police department. Known for dressing only in black, Grace was appointed the first woman U.S. district attorney in history. And when a pretty 18-year-old girl named Ruth Cruger went missing on Valentine's Day in New York, Grace took the case after the police gave up. Grace and her partner, the hard-boiled Hungarian detective Julius J. Kron, navigated a dangerous mystery of secret boyfriends, two-faced cops, underground tunnels, rumors of white slavery, and a mysterious pale man -- in a desperate race against time to save Ruth. When she solved the crime, she was made the first female consulting detective to the NYPD.

But despite her many successes in social and criminal justice, Grace began to see chilling connections in the cases she had solved, leading to a final showdown with her most fearsome adversary of all and one of the most powerful men of the twentieth century.

This is the first-ever literary biography of the singular woman the press nicknamed after fiction's greatest detective. In the narrative tradition of In Cold Blood and The Devil in the White City, her poignant story unmasks unmistakable connections between missing girls, the role of the media, and the real truth of crime stories. The great mystery of Mrs. Sherlock Holmes -- and its haunting twist ending -- is how one woman dedicated to finding the missing herself become so lost to history?

This was one giant dud of a book! I was hoping for an examination of how one of the first women detectives in the United States proved her qualifications and solved crimes. Instead, I got a jumble of book more intent on telling all the tiny irrelevant details of one particular case while alluding to others but not exploring them. We get a ton of inside information about the thoughts and feelings of a variety of people related to the missing woman’s case, but nothing from Grace. We meander around the case while dropping weird hints and observations. But we don’t really get to the point. We don’t get to place Grace in the time and geographic location. This is certainly no Erik Larson style book that connects the dots so that the audience can understanding why the story is truly groundbreaking. I wonder if this was an article and the author was pressured into padding it out to a full length book? That might explain the complete necessary information and side tangents that take up a majority of the pages.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Title: The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight #1)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: Del Rey 2017

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 319

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; In Case You Missed It - 2017

Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.

Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.

But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

Plodding. That’s the one word that comes to mind in attempting a review of this book. I just couldn’t seem to stay engaged in the story or the characters. Most of the characters are highly unlikeable. It doesn’t help that we really don’t get to see much of them except of glimpses through Vasya. The main character isn’t even that interesting. Most of the story is things happening to her, not her doing things. And for that, I was just not that interested in the story at all. I do like a good Russian folk tale redone, but this one was too slow and not engaging enough to make me want to read the rest of the series.

Winternight

#1 The Bear and the Nightingale
#2 The Girl in the Tower
#3 The Winter of the Witch

Next up on the TBR pile:

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

Title: Do Your Worst

Author: Rosie Danan

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 317

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - January (You Didn’t Get to in 2023); Library Love

Spice Meter: 5

Riley Rhodes finally has the chance to turn her family’s knack for the supernatural into a legitimate business when she’s hired to break the curse on an infamous Scottish castle. Used to working alone in her alienating occupation, she's pleasantly surprised to meet a handsome stranger upon arrival—until he tries to get her fired.

Fresh off a professional scandal, Clark Edgeware can’t allow a self-proclaimed “curse breaker” to threaten his last chance for redemption. After he fails to get Riley kicked off his survey site, he vows to avoid her. Unfortunately for him, she vows to get even.

Riley expects the curse to do her dirty work by driving Clark away, but instead, they keep finding themselves in close proximity. Too close. Turns out, the only thing they do better than fight is fool around. If they’re not careful, by the end of all this, more than the castle will end up in ruins.

Overall a cute supernaturally tinged romance featuring two opposite people. I really do love a good enemies to lovers trope and this one definitely fit the bill. Riley can be a be secretive and naive at times, but she’s a good character to root for. The scenes without Clark in them were just not as good as the ones with him in it. We needed the banter and the barbs for this story to really work and keep me engaged. There are some very spicy scenes in this one including a scene in a library. I would never desecrate a library like they do, but hey, it’s a book. The appearance of Clark’s father was very cringe-worthy, but added that extra obstacle that the story needed. Definitely a fun romp.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Share Your Stuff, I'll Go First by Laura Tremaine

Title: Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First: 10 Questions to Take Your Friendships to the Next Level

Author: Laura Tremaine

Publisher: Zondervan 2021

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 224

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

In spite of the hyper-connected culture we live in today, women still feel shamed for oversharing and being publicly vulnerable. And no matter how many friends we seem to have, many of us are still desperately lonely.

Laura Tremaine, blogger and podcaster behind 10 Things To Tell You, says it's time for something better. Openness and vulnerability are the foundation for human growth and healthy relationships, and it all starts when we share our stuff, the nitty-gritty daily details about ourselves with others. Laura has led the way in her personal life with her popular blog and podcast, and now with lighthearted self-awareness, a sensitivity to the important things in life, and compelling storytelling, Laura gives you the tools to build and deepen the conversations happening in your life.

Laura's stories about her childhood, her complicated shifts in faith and friendships, and her marriage to a Hollywood movie director will prompt you to identify the beautiful narrative and pivotal milestones of your own life. Each chapter offers intriguing and reflective questions that will reveal unique details and stories you've never thought to tell and will guide you into cultivating the authentic connection with others that only comes from sharing yourself.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years now after reading rave reviews from my podcast community. I finally dove into this one and just felt very meh about it throughout. There’s some good questions and advice in here, but like in most self-help books, the text goes on and on. I kept getting bogged down in the repetitions and multiple scenarios detailed. I just couldn’t find myself caring much at all. Oh well. One less book on my Unread Shelf.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Timekeeper by Tara Sim

Title: Timekeeper

Author: Tara Sim

Publisher: Sky Pony Press 2016

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 414

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Lifetime - Teenage Characters

“I was in an accident. I got out. I'm safe now.” An alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, where a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

A prodigy mechanic who can repair not only clockwork, but time itself, determined to rescue his father from a Stopped town.

A series of mysterious bombings that could jeopardize all of England.

A boy who would give anything to relive his past, and one who would give anything to live at all.

A romance that will shake the very foundations of time.

The first book in a dazzling new steampunk-fantasy trilogy, Timekeeper introduces a magical world of mythology and innovation that readers will never want to leave.

My mom has been wanting me to read this book for almost a year. I finally put it on my short list TBR and enjoyed it. This has a very melancholy feel to it mixed in with the fantasy and steampunk elements. I wouldn’t say that the melancholy lessened my enjoyment, but I was expecting something a bit more upbeat and glittering. Once I settled into the story, I really fell for Danny and his attempt at finding a better life for himself. Once we realize exactly who Colton is, the story kicks in and I was very interested to see where the story went. This was an intriguing story about time and love.

Timekeeper

#1 Timekeeper
#2 Chainbreaker
#3 Firestarter

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Title: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 446

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - More Than 40 Chapters

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

J has been trying to get me to start reading this series for a few months now. I just wasn’t really in the mood for an RPG style narration until now. Once I started, I really couldn’t put this one down. Carl and Princess Doughnut are great protagonists that you can’t help but root for. As they stumble their way through Levels 1 and 2 of the dungeon causing chaos in their wake, I was on pins and needles desperate to see what was around the next corner. I really felt like we were in a video game encountering obstacles and bosses, figuring out puzzles, and attempting to survive just one more hour. Meeting other crawlers added the human element in a decidedly non-human environment. I can’t wait to read (or listen, the audio performance is great) the next book in the series.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

#1 Dungeon Crawler Carl
#2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
#3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbooks
#4 The Gate of the Feral Gods
#5 The Butcher’s Masquerade
#6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

Falling for the Rockstar at Christmas by Lyndsey Gallagher

Title: Falling for the Rockstar at Christmas (Sexton Sisters #1)

Author: Lyndsey Gallagher

Publisher: 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 356

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 5

Ten years ago, I inherited our family castle and sole care of my youngest sister. More Cinderella, than Sleeping Beauty, at the mere age of twenty-eight I have a teenager to raise and a hotel to run. If the hotel is to survive past Christmas, I need a lottery win, a miracle, or Prince Charming himself to sweep in with a humongous… wad of cash.

When my super successful middle sister announces she’s coming home for the holiday season, I’m determined to put my problems aside and make this the most fabulous Christmas ever. Especially as it might just be the last one in our family home.

I didn’t factor in the return of my first love, Ryan Cooper. Back then he was the boy next door. Now, he’s a world famous singer/song writer. We were supposed to go the States together. He left without me. Now he’s back. Rumour is he has writers block. Apparently this is a last-ditch attempt to find inspiration before his record label pulls the plug permanently.

And guess where he wants to stay? You have it in one- the most inspiring castle hotel in Dublin’s fair city.

Every woman in the city wants to pull this Hollywood Christmas cracker. Except me.I’m going to avoid him at all costs.

Easier said than done when he’s parading around under my roof, with enough heat exuding from his molten eyes to melt every square inch of snow from the peaks of the Dublin mountains...

A breezy decent Christmas romance to end my year’s reading. This is another one of those random free Kindle reads that I grabbed. At first, I was very concerned that our main characters were going to be 18 year olds. Thankfully, only the first chapter is set at that time and then we jump ahead ten years. Much better… From there, we have two characters rediscovering love and lots of added obstacles (of course). Overall, this was fine and breezy. Nothing too ground breaking. And I’m sure that I will forget about this book in a month, but sometimes that’s okay.

Sexton Sisters

#1 Falling for the Rockstar at Christmas
#2 Falling for my Forbidden Fling
#3 Falling for My Bodyguard

Next up on the TBR pile:

Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker

Title: Under the Smokestrewn Sky (The Up and Under #4)

Author: A. Deborah Baker

Publisher: Tordotcom 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 195

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Since stumbling from their world into the Up and Under, Avery and Zib have walked the improbable road across forests, seas and skies, finding friends in the unlikeliest of places and enemies great in number, as they make their way toward the Impossible City in the hope of finding their way home.

But the final part of their journey is filled with danger and demise. Not everyone will make it through unscathed. Not everyone will make it through alive.

We finally come to the end of Avery and Zib’s adventures in The Up and Under. Overall, I really enjoyed this series so much. There’s a bit of Alice in Wonderland in there, a bit of The Wizard of Oz, and so much wit and introspection from Seanan McGuire. Adding Jack to the mix in the last book really completed the group for the last adventure. The reveal involving the Crow Girl was just about the most perfect way to continue the story and bring the threads together. I appreciate the fact that we get a definite end to the storyline. Seeing the characters find their places was the perfect way to conclude. I’ll be excited to see what McGuire writes next.

The Up and Under

#1 Over the Woodward Wall
#2 Along the Saltwise Sea
#3 Into the Windwracked Wilds
#4 Under the Smokestrewn Sky

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Stopover by TL Swan

Title: The Stopover (Miles High Club #1)

Author: TL Swan

Publisher: Montlake Romance 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 481

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

I was upgraded to first class on a flight from London to New York. The food, champagne, and service were impeccable. The blue-eyed man sitting next to me, even better. He was suave and intelligent. We talked and laughed, and something clicked. Fate took over and the plane was grounded, and we had an unexpected stopover for the night. With no plans, we made our own. We danced and laughed our way around Boston and had a night of crazy passion that no woman would ever forget. That was twelve months ago, and I haven’t heard from him—until today. I started a new job and met the CEO. You can imagine my surprise to see those naughty blue eyes dance with delight when he saw me across the mahogany desk. But I’m not that carefree girl anymore. My life has changed, I have responsibilities. I just got an email. He wants to see me in his office for a private meeting at 8:00 a.m. Naughty blue eyes have no place in the workplace. What kind of private meeting does he have in mind?

I picked this one up as a contender for Dirty Book Month, but I realized that I just couldn’t handle the drama within the storyline. Jameson was much too much an arrogant alpha male for me to root for him. I couldn’t believe some of the things that he did to and around Emily. She was way too immature most of the story. I was very annoyed by her constant whining and need to argue with Jameson. In the end, I didn’t feel like the characters actually resolved any of their fundamental differences. Their big problems were just swept under the rug. I was much too stressed out after reading this story. Not my cup of tea at all.

Miles High Club

#1 The Stopover
#2 The Takeover
#3 The Casanova
#4 The Do-Over

Next up on the TBR pile:

Blue Sky Cowboy Christmas by Joanne Kennedy

Title: Blue Sky Cowboy Christmas (Blue Sky #2)

Author: Joanne Kennedy

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Soldier Street

Spice Meter: 4

Book 2 in award-winning author Joanne Kennedy's new Blue Sky Cowboys series, Blue Sky Cowboy Christmas is an emotional, compelling story from a master of the genre. Joanne Kennedy's sexy cowboy romances feature the rugged and lonely Wyoming range, where the nearest neighbors are miles away and the climate is brutal for man and beast. This beautiful and sensuous tale takes place at the holidays, when a lonely cowboy is more desperate than ever to connect with the woman of his dreams.

Nope nope nope. I kept reading this thinking that I was going to enjoy a fun cowboy Christmas romance. Instead, I just kept getting more and more frustrated over the characters inability to talk to each other. Miscommunication is not one of my preferred tropes and it just kept going on and on. I couldn’t handle the constant circular arguments and conversations. This book could have been a third of the length and retained the important bits. I just wasn’t interested in the couple or the story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn

Title: A Not So Meet Cute (Cane Brothers #1)

Author: Meghan Quinn

Publisher: 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 404

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 5

How did you two meet? The quintessential question asked to every couple. And the answer is usually some bubbly, lovey dovey tale of being struck in the bum by Cupid’s arrow.
My meet cute (well not so meet cute) is slightly different. I was trolling a wealthy neighborhood in Beverly Hills, searching for someone to take me as their bride, you know, to make my arch nemesis jealous who consequently just fired me.
He was stomping around the block like some sort of gorgeous ogre, mumbling about a business deal gone wrong and attempting to finagle his way out of it.
And that's when we bumped into each other.
There were no sparks.
Not even a hint of blossoming love.
But next thing I knew, I was scarfing down free chips and guac, listening to this man lay out all of his problems which led to his big ask . . . he wanted me to be his Vivian Ward, you know, from Pretty Woman--minus the frisky behavior.
We're talking about living in a mansion, intimate double dates, and pretending we were head over heels in love . . . and engaged. Can you imagine?
The absolute audacity.
But people do crazy things when they’re desperate. And I reeked of desperation. So, I struck up a deal.
My one big mistake, though . . . big . . . HUGE? I accidentally fell for the incomparable Huxley Cane.

Another story of a rich bachelor hiring a girlfriend and then falling for her. It may be a common trope in romance, but I also really enjoy it. Hux and Lottie were such a fun couple. Their banter is spot on and so is the ridiculous situations they find themselves in. It is utter fiction and yet it was such a great ride. The scenes with Dave and Ellie were so cringe-worthy, but played perfectly. I couldn’t wait to see what silly situation Hux and Lottie would get themselves into next. Honestly, I sped through this book enjoying every page. This isn’t life-changing romance, but it sure is fun.,

Cane Brothers

#1 A Not So Meet Cute
#2 So Not Meant to Be
#3 A Long Time Coming

Next up on the TBR pile:

Miss Kane's Christmas by Caroline Mickelson

Title: Miss Kane’s Christmas (Christmas Central #1)

Author: Caroline Mickelson

Publisher: Bon Accord Press 2012

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 154

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 1

With Christmas only three days away, Carol Claus agrees to her father’s request that she leave the North Pole on a mission to help save Christmas. Joining single father Ben Hanson and his children for the holidays seems an easy enough task until Santa informs her that Ben is the man behind the disturbing new book ‘Beyond Bah Humbug: Why Lying to Your Children about Santa Claus is a Bad Idea’. Posing as Miss Kane, the children’s new nanny, Carol pulls out all the stops to show Ben how fun Christmas can be, all the while struggling to understand how one man could hate the holidays so much. How could she, Santa’s only daughter, be so attracted to a man who refuses to believe her father exists? **Please note - this book was formerly titled 'Carol's Christmas'.

Cute little Christmas romance, but I must say that this one was just a little too cutesy for my tastes. We didn’t get enough setup and exploration of the characters for me to really love this one. Carol is fine, but she was much too much of a 2D character. Fine for an afternoon’s reading, but that’s it.

Christmas Central

#1 Miss Kane’s Christmas
#2 Mrs. Saint Nick
#3 The Return of Kris Kringle
#4 The North Pole Prize
#5 The Christmas Makeover
#6 Eve’s Christmas Wedding
#7 A Very Marisol Christmas

Next up on the TBR pile:

That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert

Title: That Kind of Guy (Ravenswood #3)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Nixon House 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 5

She wants a fake relationship. He needs something real.

If there’s one thing Rae can’t stand, it’s pity. She’s forty, frazzled, and fed up—so attending an awards ceremony alone while her ex swans about with his new wife? Not an option. To avoid total humiliation, Rae needs a date of her own. And her young, hot-as-hell new best friend is the perfect candidate…

Zach Davis, king of casual hookups, has a secret: the notorious womaniser craves emotional connection, and anonymous encounters leave him feeling hollow. After years of performance, Zach’s desperate to be himself. So why does he agree to play Rae’s fake boyfriend? And why does it feel so easy?

When the line between pretence and desire blurs, Zach’s forced to face an unexpected truth: there’s nothing phoney about his need for Rae. But the jaded divorcée’s been hurt by playboy men before. Can a weekend of faking it prove that Zach’s for real?

I think I finally found the selection for dirty book month! I have previously read Hibbert and loved her inclusion of a variety of characters, not just skinny and “normal” people finding romance. This is one of her previous books, but I was pulled to it because of the older protagonist. Once I started the book, I immediately fell for Zach and Rae. I loved the idea of a woman finding her place after divorce and finding it with a misunderstood man. Their sexual tension was palpable throughout the first half of the book. I usually want to see steamy scenes earlier in the book, but this was the right balance of tension and action. And then we get to the conversations between the characters. I loved how Zach and Rae finally reveal themselves to each other and come to a beautiful understanding.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Worst Christmas Ever? by Rebecca Paulinyi

Title: The Worst Christmas Ever? (South West #1)

Author: Rebecca Paulinyi

Publisher: 2018

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 194

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 4

When Shirley 'Lee' Jones returns home from an awful day at the office, the last thing she expects to find is her husband in bed with another woman. Six weeks until Christmas, and Lee finds the life she had so carefully planned has been utterly decimated.

Hurt, angry and confused, Lee makes a whirlwind decision to drive her problems away and ends up in Totnes, an eccentric town in the heart of Devon. As Christmas approaches, Lee tries to figure out what path her life will follow now, as she looks at it from the perspective of a soon-to-be 31-year-old divorcée.

Can she ever return to her normal life? Or is a new reality - and a new man - on the horizon?

Finding herself and flirting with the handsome local police officer might just make this the best Christmas ever.

A very cute Christmas story about a woman finding her place after a devastation revelation. At first, I was unsure if this really would be a romance as it seemed to have a different tone. But eventually we did get there. Lee is a great character to follow as she upends her life and move to the South West. I fell in love with the village of Totnes and would love to read more about the inhabitants. Small towns at Christmas are my reading kryptonite. It’s a cute little pick-me-up kind of story.

South West

#0.5 Deadlines and Dates
#1 The Worst Christmas Ever?
#2 Lawyers and Lattes
#3 Feeling the Fireworks
#4 The Best Christmas Ever
#5 Trouble in Tartan
#6 Summer of Sunshine

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

Title: The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe

Author: Kij Johnson

Publisher: Tor Dot Com 2016

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 166

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Professor Vellitt Boe teaches at the prestigious Ulthar Women’s College. When one of her most gifted students elopes with a dreamer from the waking world, Vellitt must retrieve her.

Such a strange retelling of a Lovecraft story. Another great read for my Nerdy Bookish Friends book club. I took this book very slow, savoring each section as I followed Boe into the unknown in pursuit of her student. The story unfolds like a dream itself, challenging the reader to determine what is real and what is fiction. Slowly, we meet more horrors in the dreaming world until Boe reaches the gate to the waking world. I’m excited to talk with all my book club friends about this book on Sunday.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

Title: A Winter in New York

Author: Josie Silver

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2023

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Rating: 2

When Iris decides to move to New York to restart her life, she realizes she underestimated how big the Big Apple really is—all the nostalgic movies set in New York she’d watched with her mom while eating their special secret-recipe gelato didn’t quite do it justice.

But Bobby, Iris’s best friend, isn’t about to let her hide away. He drags her to a famous autumn street fair in Little Italy, and as they walk through the food stalls, a little family-run gelateria catches her eye—could it be the same shop that’s in an old photo of her mother’s?

Curious, Iris returns the next day and meets the handsome Gio, who tells her that the shop is in danger of closing. His uncle, sole keeper of their family’s gelato recipe, is in a coma, so they can’t make more. When Iris samples the last remaining batch, she realizes that their gelato and her gelato are one and the same. But how can she tell them she knows their secret recipe when she’s not sure why Gio’s uncle gave it to her mother in the first place?

Iris offers her services as a chef to help them re-create the flavor and finds herself falling for Gio and his family. But when Gio’s uncle finally wakes up, all of the secrets Iris has been keeping threaten to ruin the new life—and new love—she’s been building all winter long.

While I deeply appreciated the references to Moonstruck, this book left me with a lackluster feeling in the end. Way more women’s lit than romance in my opinion. That’s okay, but I just really wasn’t in the mood for that type of story. I wanted to read more fun banter and sweet romance. Gil is a little too saccharine with a very closed off nature. I also wasn’t a fan of the narration. It felt like we just didn’t get to hear enough from the characters to really connect with them. Random side story: I actually have Josie Silver’s previous two book sitting on my Unread Shelf, but picked up and read this one from the library. I should probably read those other ones…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Magical Midlife Madness by KF Breene

Title: Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up #1)

Author: KF Breene

Publisher: Hazy Dawn Press 2020

Genre: Fantasy; Romance

Pages: 374

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

"Happily Ever After" wasn't supposed to come with a do-over option. But when my husband of twenty years packs up and heads for greener pastures and my son leaves for college, that's exactly what my life becomes.

Do-over.

This time, though, I plan to do things differently. Age is just a number, after all, and at forty I'm ready to carve my own path.

Eager for a fresh start, I make a somewhat unorthodox decision and move to a tiny town in the Sierra foothills. I'll be taking care of a centuries old house that called to me when I was a kid. It's just temporary, I tell myself. It'll just be for a while.

That is, until I learn what the house really is, something I never could've imagined.

Thankfully forty isn't too old to start an adventure, because that's exactly what I do. A very dangerous adventure that will change my life forever. I have a chance to start again, and this time, I make the rules.

I picked this one up under the impression that this was a romance with an older protagonist. I would not categorize this as a romance. The focus of this book is not a romantic relationship, but a woman finding her way after a divorce. I would categorize this as a fantasy women’s lit book. If I reframe my perspective of the book, I really enjoyed it as it stands. Our main character is a delightfully feisty woman who gives no fucks about people’s thoughts on her life. She slowly finds her place in a very strange small town and eventually her own power. The writing is quirky and fun and the action, when it comes, is fast and furious. I’m interested in where this story is going to go in the series.

Leveling Up

#1 Magical Midlife Madness
#2 Magical Midlife Dating
#3 Magical Midlife Invasion
#4 Magical Midlife Love
#5 Magical Midlife Meeting
#6 Magical Midlife Challenge
#7 Magical Midlife Alliance
#8 Magical Midlife Battle

Next up on the TBR pile: