title: The Sweetheart List author: Jill Shalvis publisher: Avon publication date: June 13, 2023 pages: 352 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: dead parents, off page summary: Harper moves to Tahoe, the last place she remembers being truly happy, with the only male who’s ever been good to her, Ham the Bernese Mountain dog. She plans…
Author: caritagardiner
226. Why Love Venn
I had the idea for this post when I was listening to Kamala Harris’ guest appearance on We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle. The Vice President said, among other great lines, that she loves a good Venn diagram because it shows what we have in common. I stopped my stroll, sent myself the…
Book Review: Boyfriend Material
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…
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…