I ate this up. It was most definitely a teen drama with all kinds of eye-rolling moments. It was angsty and a bit toxic. I hated the ending. The author even apologizes for it in her acknowledgements—not enough, Mona Kasten. These characters better get redemption! It’s a good thing I have book 2 on deck.

I finished this two weeks ago and keep thinking about it.

This took me back to my college English major days. Yes, these two are in an MFA program, but it still put me right back into those classrooms full of writing, creativity, awkwardness, and exposure. Leigh is one of the most relatable characters I’ve ever read. The way she adjusts herself to please the people around her. The way she holds back her comments in class (or isn’t sure she even has anything meaningful to say) were just like me as an undergrad.

There was so much about this I loved. The premise alone? I mean, what a heart-wrenching opening. I felt the grief in my bones and my family saw the evidence in the tears streaming down my face, especially in some of the closing chapters.

Boy, has this one had some buzz, at least in the circle of Bookstagrammers I follow online. I hadn’t run across any reviews under 5-stars when I started reading, but I don’t think I’ll be completely alone in having some mixed feelings on this one.

It’s another Ali Hazelwood win in my book. Maybe even a new favorite!

When I picked up Ivy Fairbanks’s debut novel, Morbidly Yours, late last year, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It did not disappoint.

This book surprised the heck out of me.

After reading Love, Theoretically back in 2023 (and loving it, I should add), I thought Ali Hazelwood had crossed my threshold for steam in her books.

You’ve heard of the forbidden love trope. Sometimes it feels a bit tired and overdone, but I’m not sure I’ve ever quite read it like this.

Here’s the deal. I loved this book, but, and it’s a big one, I kind of had to tell myself that I was not reading an Emily Henry title.

Lana Lord is famous. She’s been acting in Hollywood on a prominent drama that is produced like and often feels like a soap opera. No one even knows her real name is Meg Bryan. No one knows that she and her best friend, Aimee, had planned to study acting in Ireland but ended up staying in Florida. No one really knows Meg at all.

Ellis and Wren grew up together and had their son, Sam, as teens. A decade later, their marriage fell apart. Now in their 30s, they still can’t keep their minds off each other. A summer road trip to drop Sam at college is an opportunity to see whether forever might still be possible.

I love it when a book surprises me, not because it had twists and turns I didn't expect (although I'll take that, too), but when I went in without high expectations and they are exceeded. I read Jilly Gagnon's rom-com of 2024, Love You, Mean It, and I had a good time with it, but there were a few parts of it that just didn't work well for me. It was a solid read, but I didn't find myself immediately wanting to read everything by this author.

Xavier is a veterinarian. He’s known for a gruff bedside manner, but he’s also very good at his job. When Samantha comes in with a kitten who has a life-threatening condition, he gives it to her straight; and she serves it right back.

Margot is a famous romance writer, but after several bad experiences with men, she’s started “screaming into her pillow” by writing alternate endings to each of her books in a secret file called Happily Never After.

Cassie loves a genre-bender and Charlotte McConaghy has delivered. Why am I writing in the third-person right now? I’m not sure, but I think it has to do with excitement level.

Since her best friend died of cancer six months ago, Lenny has been taking temporary nanny jobs–a weekend here or there because that’s the limit to how long she can “hold it together.”