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 ...

 Workplace romance, enemies-to-lovers, drama 4 stars I received  an  e-ARC of this book from  Random House Publishing Group on NetGalley. All thoughts expressed below are my own honest opinions.  Lilah and Shane have had a lots of ups and downs - mostly downs - in their relationship (both personal and professional). Every time they attempt to finally get back together, it seems something gets in the way - even when that something is themselves. I love getting to know them as individuals as we slowly learn their backstory together and the different ways they view their acting job. Their past is holding them back from the potential of a future, and to reach this realization they have to dig deep inside themselves.  Despite all the back and forth, the author’s writing is compelling and I never felt bored by the story - there is always a new element or focus. I like that the story continues to move forward, rather than stalling out as the couple tries to figure...

 Fake-dating, dark past, meet-cute 2.5 stars This is fake dating with several twists along the way. Harper and Luke are made for each other, but they each carry a weight from their past. Will they be able to let go of the past to make it to their future? I do think this book, while being a good read, is not one of my favorites. Harper insinuates herself into Luke’s life - with his agreement - but then keeps barreling through his boundaries without consideration or apology and everyone sides with her when he tries to address it. She’s acts entitled and it’s not her best quality. But she has plenty of better ones, and overall is a good character.  I like the side characters and their stories that we learn along the way, and I like Harper’s dedication to Luke and enhancing his life and happiness on the way. And on the flip side, I enjoy Luke’s immediate dedication to Harper’s safety and well-being. There’s a lot of stumbling blocks in this story but you can tell ultimately th...

Meet-cute, bad decisions, pen-pals 2.5 stars   Gia has a list of bold moves to change her life. Ben is stuck in a rut, hiding his dreams away. Joined as accidental pen-pals by fate (or a takeaway order), these two slowly get to know each other as they navigate their problems and transform their lives. Though the story is intriguing and overall pretty cute, I feel like there was a lot of distractions and jumping around. The focus is heavy on some side characters, like Jay or Matt, while also only sharing very little about said characters and then suddenly a lot shared all at once. Aside from Gia and Ben, I didn’t get the impression that I got to know anyone.   Speaking of the main characters, Ben is a good one. He’s a little indecisive but clearly striving for better and moving forward, albeit at his own pace. I love his interactions with the people at the takeaway and his football team. Gia, on the other hand, kind of feels like a bit of a mess. A sweet, semi-optimistic charac...

Mystery, drama, amnesia 2.5 stars  A shipwrecked amnesiac is rescued by a quiet, keeps-to-herself woodworker in this new romance from Becky Wade. Sounds like a recipe for romance… or maybe just trouble. There’s something sinister lurking behind the amnesia, and the quiet woodworker has more secrets than she lets on. Are these two meant for each other, or just in the wrong place at the wrong time? This story is intriguing and there is mystery layered on mystery with a layer of romance on top. I kept trying to piece together clues and arrive at a convincing conclusion, but my detective skills weren’t up to the task of unraveling the delicate strings Wade tied together. This book has a lot of cute moments, a lot of confusing emotions, and a whole lot of mystery and drama. (What else would you expect from the first book in a series called “Sons of Scandal”?) That being said, sometimes I felt a little overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of everything that is happening in this book. In...

 Meet-cute (or meet ugly?), open communication, friends-to-lovers 4.5 stars I love Hailey and Wes’ first meeting - practically the opposite of a meet-cute but such a fun story for later, as I’m sure we can all agree. These two have such a good rapport and despite their rocky start, they click on a fundamental level. The friendship of their dreams… if they can stay just friends. Sophie Sullivan wraps these characters up in warm fuzzies and friendship goodness but this author isn’t fooling anyone; Hailey and Wes are meant to be.  Despite quickly becoming best of friends, these two do have plenty of differences to overcome. Thankfully, as we saw in the other two Jansen brothers book, the Jansen boys know how to apologize (or at least are quick learners), and Hailey is quick to accept chocolate whenever it is offered (relatable).   Honestly just such a cute story of becoming friends and then so much more. While these characters have a lot to work through, they do it with grac...

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...

I reviewed the first four books of the Bridgerton series already , but of course the fun does not stop there!  A large family of main characters means more books for us to enjoy.  While my opinion of the first half of this series was strongly influenced by the Netflix show, most of the main characters in these books are quite young in the show and are not yet stars of the story.  I was able to get to know them through the books first and foremost, and I found myself preferring several of the later books over the early ones - perhaps because the show had not yet influenced my opinion of these characters.  So without further ado, here are my mini-reviews of the last four Bridgerton books! To Sir Philip, With Love After explaining to you that the show had not influenced my opinions of these books, we start off with the exception.  This is Eloise's story, and as she is one of the main characters of the show, I found myself quite confused by the direction they took h...

 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 Emma Hart for sending me an e-ARC of this book to read and review! In the wake of the Bridgerton frenzy, don't we all just want to find a duke to fall in love with?  Ellie is lucky enough to actually live this dream... or at least, the main character in her latest romance novel is. When Ellie can't seem to write her next book she heads out to the English countryside to live in a lodge owned by a duke and his grandmother.  If her male love interest (in the book!) immediately takes on several qualities of said duke, well surely it's just a coincidence.  Until it's not.  And suddenly Ellie has a lot more inspiration. I will say, reading this book is a little bit meta. The main character is an author who is writing a book largely based on her life in the moments as we read them, so she often talks about writing something into her book that we just read written in a book.  While I do enjoy moments like that on occasion, it d...