Bewilderness

Finished my 9th Aspen Words 2022 Longlist read! This is another that I would absolutely not have picked up without it being on the longlist, as really nothing from the cover to the description really grabbed my interest. (Though I'm always here for a book set in NC, and this author even currently teaches at…

Hell of a Book

After a bit of a break reading other stuff, I'm back with a review for my 8th Aspen Words Literary Prize 2022 Longlist read. This one also happened to have won this year's National Book Award, so I was heading into it prepared for some intense literary fiction and some high expectations. Plus, it was set…

Hang the Moon

As always, when life gets hectic, I turn to romances for a little quick and easy reading escape. I enjoyed the first in this series, Written in the Stars, when I read it a while ago. Although it wasn't a new fav, I was super into the astrology aspects and I also remember how well Bellefleur wrote…

Wahala

Thanks to Libro.fm for the ALC of this book. It is one that I would definitely not have picked up as fast, if ever, without that push. And while there are quite a few ALCs I've gotten from them that remain unread (I'm just one person and there are so many great books and just too many things other than reading on…

How to Fail at Flirting

This was a vacation romance read book choice (the final one I ended up getting to on this particular trip). It has been on my TBR list for awhile and this seemed like the perfect chance to finally pick it up. Also, the colors on the cover feel very tropical, to me, so the vibe…

Brown Girls

So, I got this book as an eARC from Netgalley a few months ago. I had a goal, of course, of reading it before publication, but I am just terrible at following through on that. However, I am only a couple weeks late (so that's an improvement!). Plus, I have to say I'm not mad…

Love & Other Disasters

So apparently cooking/baking shows are a new trend in romance settings (ok, maybe this one and Rosalie Palmer Takes the Cake are just two books, not the start of a new wave of reality food tv romances, but still...) and I'm not not here for it. While I don't really watch a lot of reality food tv IRL, I do…

The Startup Wife

Another Aspen Words Literary Prize 2022 Longlist read finished! This is my seventh of the sixteen and, as is a pattern with these Aspen Words books, I ended up being much more interested and invested in the story than I would have thought, based on the blurb. Which, honestly, is why I'm continuing with this reading…

Olga Dies Dreaming

Between the eye-catching cover (those colors!) and the ALC I got access to through Libro.fm, I picked up this new release really quickly! Not my normal MO, so cheers to me. Haha. And it was a lucky choice, because this was a page-turner of entertainment and big ideas from start to finish. Olga Dies Dreaming by…

The Verifiers

Thanks to the publisher (Vintage Anchor) for reaching out to send me a review copy of this debut novel. I am not usually a mystery reader, so I was initially hesitant, but something about this one sounded different enough that it might be worth a try. Perhaps the fact that the MC likes girls and wrote…