title: What If It’s You? author: Jilly Gagnon publisher: Dell publication date: May 13, 2025 pages: 304 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: Laurel/Lo has been with struggling musician Ollie for five years, but when she realizes he’s going to pop the question, she freaks out. In her muddle, she heads to her office,…
Author: caritagardiner
331. Why You Should Suck at Something New Every Year (Guest Post)
[The essay below is a guest post, with permission from author Guy Kawasaki. I recommend you check out/follow his Substack and podcast.] The beginner’s mindset: your secret weapon for staying sharp. Guy Kawasaki Apr 23, 2025 In a world that’s constantly changing, the ability to learn and adapt is your greatest asset. Trying something new…
NetGalley Review of Give Me a Shot
title: Give Me a Shot author: Gia De Cadenet publisher: Dell publication date: May 6, 2025 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: death of a sister (inpast), bad relationship with parents, highly sensitive person, a fall/injury, grief, domestic violence leading to death (in past) summary: Jess has moved to a new town in…
NetGalley Review of Hotter in the Hamptons
title: Hotter in the Hamptons author: Tinx publisher: Bloom Books publication date: May 6, 2025 pages: 336 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: cancel culture, binge drinking, vomit mentioned (in past) summary: When social media influencer/content creator Lola makes a thoughtless comment that loses her thousands of followers, her media team convinces her to let…
NetGalley Review of Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice
title: Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice author: Cynthia Timoti publisher: Bramble publication date: May 6, 2025 pages: 336 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: needles, T1D hypo episode summary: After Ellie rejects the world’s most eligible/desirable bachelor in what becomes a viral video, she decides to follow her lifelong dream of opening her…
330. Why Education isn’t Elitism
It won’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows anything about me that I’m a big advocate of learning as much as possible. I’ve been a teacher for all of my adult/professional life and I have one high school, one college, and three Master’s degrees. I feel extraordinarily lucky to have been able to…
329. Why Embrace Discomfort 2.0
Four and a half years ago, I wrote a post about the importance of embracing discomfort. If you haven’t already read that one, please feel free to do so now by clicking on this link. Welcome back. I hope you found that post interesting. This one is very different. Earlier this year, I was talking…
328. Why I’ll Stop Reading
The photo above is the results I got when I did a Google image search for “romance novels”; if you click on the image, you should get transported to the complete search results. The fact is, I will read almost any romance novel with any protagonists in any setting with any heat level, but there…
NetGalley Review of To Have and Have More
title: To Have and Have More author: Sanibel publisher: Zando-8th Note Press publication date: April 15, 2025 pages: 368 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: lack of justice, micro and macro aggressions, racism summary: Emery was born in Korea and adopted by a VERY wealthy American couple. At Derrymore Academy, she meets up with Lilah,…
NetGalley Review of What If I Never Get Over You
title: What If I Never Get Over You author: Paige Toon publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons publication date: April 15, 2025 pages: 416 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: child molestation (in past), horrible parents, childhood death by accident and by drug overdose summary: Ellie is about to give up on her Euro-rail trip when she…