I am totally late to the party on this one, but I might as well write a quick review in case there are a few people out there who haven’t read it yet. title: Boyfriend Material author: Alexis Hall publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca publication date: July 7, 2020 pages: 432 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: can’t…
“Why”…Wednesdays
225. Why Different is Better
Once again, the photo doesn’t have anything to do with the post, but isn’t Tuukka a beautiful pup? I was listening to a podcast recently (Short Wave: Humans Want to Make Everything Better, Jan 13, 2023) that reported on two scientists who asked people versions of the question, how could X be different? Before you…
224. Why Maggie Banks
I’ve read a lot of M/F, M/M, F/F, and even throuple romance novels. Shauna Robinson’s The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks offers the first F/R book I can remember. Yes, there’s a M/F relationship that develops through the story. That relationship has a meet cute, shows the characters learning to trust each other, and fills other…
223. Why FAIL
As much as I’d like to think that my brain works as I want it to at all times, in fact, I spend a lot of my energy in reframing. My first thoughts, before I massage them, sometimes lean toward the negative. Then, I remind myself that I control the lens through which I view…
NetGalley Review of In the Case of Heartbreak
title: In the Case of Heartbreak author: Courtney Kae publisher: Kensington publication date: July 25, 2023 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: childhood trauma talked about a lot, drug use summary: narrator Ben runs a bakery that is competing, using a cinnamon roll recipe that mom adapted from absent/neglectful father’s recipe, on a baking…
222. Why Enter
If you’ve never read anything by Jennifer Weiner, you’re missing out. In fact, I’m a little embarrassed that with all the posts I’ve written about the magnificence of romance novels, I haven’t mentioned her until now. Her 2002 novel, Good in Bed, was one of the first rom-coms I read that convinced me I’d found my…
Book Review of While We Were Dating
title: While We Were Dating author: Jasmine Guillory publisher: Berkley publication date: July 13, 2021 pages: 384 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: discussions of and on-page anxiety summary: Ben Stephens has to give the campaign pitch for his ad agency because the higher-level executives are stuck at LAX. Everyone in the room is surprised when…
NetGalley Review of The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen
title: The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen author: KJ Charles publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca publication date: March 7, 2023 pages: 352 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: violence, death summary: When Gareth’s mother died, years before the opening of the novel, his father sends him away from their Baroncy in Kent to live with an unkind uncle…
NetGalley Review of The Matchmaker
title: The Matchmaker author: Catherine Walsh publisher: Bookouture/Kindle publication date: April 18, 2023 pages: 281 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: parents die in a car crash years before the book takes place summary: Katie loves her tiny town in Ireland and her job as a bartender at the only pub in town, so she’s…
221. Why You’re Not Who You Think You Are
[I found the photo above on Nystrom and Associates’ Facebook page.] In my new job as a class dean, I’ve met with many students who’ve done things they’re not proud of. Some of them lie to me, saying they didn’t do whatever it is I’m asking them about. Some seem to believe that “I wish…