BookWormin'

Small-town, fake-dating, adorable banter 5 stars  Though this is book 2 of the When in Rome series, I did accidentally read this one first. And I have no regrets - this is a five star read! Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes and Sarah Adams has pulled it off flawlessly in this small town romance. Annie Walker has a reputation for being the sweetest girl in town. When she’s trying to date and find the love of her life, she learns the flip side of being “sweet” - it can sometimes mean boring. Enter Will Griffin, adventure seeker and bodyguard for her soon-to-be sister-in-law (and her secret crush), who gets roped into helping her practice being her authentic self and rise above her suffocating reputation.  Annie and Will’s interactions are *chef’s kiss*. Will sees Annie for her true bold self, and Annie does the same, recognizing the vulnerability behind Will’s carefree mask. They banter and have such ease around each other that they don’t feel around anyone else and it’s ...

One thing I have noticed about myself is that during the second half of the year, I tend to get nostalgic and start doing a lot more re-reading, either from earlier that year or from years past. I have also noticed that I am very bad at putting ratings in Goodreads once I finish a book, so I had to read a lot of synopses to try and remember which books were my favorites from July-December. (The downside of reading so many books; I often forget what they were all about and if I enjoyed them. Oops!) Don't forget to check out my top reads of the first six months of the year here , and without further ado, let's get into the rest of the best. 5 Star Reads: July - December 2022 1. Beach Read by Emily Henry Enemies-to-lovers, because this list needs as least one book with that trope! Gus and January are just so great. They have a history from back in school and while they're not technically rivals in the literary world, they are authors living next door to each other, so there i...

 Thank you to Social Butterfly PR and Penny Reid for sending me an e-arc of this book to read and review! I had the opportunity to review an arc of  Totally Folked , book one in this series, last year and was so excited to receive the continuation! I am a big Penny Reid fan :) So excited to be back in Green Valley! I love this small town and have been anxiously awaiting this release. Penny Reid sets you up with wonderful characters - in this case Charlotte and Hank - who have the best intentions but tend to find themselves in messy or unexpected situations.  Charlotte is a single mom who is viewed through a heavy lens of pity by most of the town because her husband ran off with a stripper, leaving her with four children. Hank owns the strip club and is rejected by the polite society that has enveloped Charlotte in their hold. He assumes she feels the same as the rest of the town, but when she shows up to ask him for a job he’s not sure how to take it. Charlotte and Hank...

After finally watching the Bridgerton show on Netflix, I just knew I would not be able to wait for the rest of the seasons to come out.  Instead, I dove headfirst into the source material!  Let me tell you, these books did not disappoint.  While I do usually like to read the book first and then watch the movie or show based on the books, I did decide to watch Bridgerton first at the suggestion of several friends.  My preferences tend to lean more towards the books but in this case, I think the show is what hooked my interest in the books.  It certainly motivated me to read the books faster, as eager as I was to know what is meant to happen.  So without further ado, here are my mini-reviews of the first four Bridgerton books. The Duke and I Because I watched the show first, my opinion on the book is slightly more skewed than my thoughts on books 3-8.  I will say I do enjoy the writing, and the book obviously has different scenes and more in depth looks ...

 Thank you to Social Butterfly PR and Sarah Ready for including me in the blog tour for the newest Soulmates in Romeo romance! I am a big fan of this series and was so excited for another installment! While I do love Christmastime, and though the temperature in my part of the world is quickly dropping to 'hibernation with hot chocolate, warm blankets, and a good book' levels of cold, it's a little early to feel too festive. Nonetheless, I could relate to Natalie in her quest to bring extreme levels of Christmas cheer - I love the joy of the holiday season. At the same time, Gabe Scrooge-ness seems perfectly reasonable to me; I'm a person who doesn't like the cold and with the aforementioned dropping temps, I'm getting grumpy. It's a balancing act... and that's really the lesson of this romance. Sarah Ready's soulmate stories give me all the warm fuzzies. Though some of the set-ups are not quite so relatable, Ready makes it easy to believe a soulmate ...