My daughter (almost six) received this as a gift from one of my wonderful friends and we have been enjoying reading a couple of the stories each night before bedtime. There is a bit of overlap between this book and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, but I still highly recommend buying both.

Currently my daughter is fascinated with Katia Krafft, a volcanologist and geologist, who died by molten lava. I adore that these stories are sparking curiosity and further research for my kiddo.

Kylie and Joe shared a scorching kiss after a night of celebrating their friends' engagement and both don't know what to do about it. When Kylie's most treasured possessions, a hand-carved wooden penguin, is stolen she turns to Joe for help knowing his skills as a private security firm enforcer/investigator will help solve the mystery. Both try to play it cool but as the investigation heats up, so does their chemistry.

AH. So good! I love a great frenemies to lovers tale and I adored how this story started with the big first kiss already in the characters' back pockets. Joe is the perfect mix of alpha with a heart of gold and Kylie is an awesome woodworker, has a fantastic little doggo, and is a swell leading lady!

Thank you to Edelweiss for the ARC!

I re-read this because one, it is awesome and sexy and super sweet, and two because it is about to be released! My favorite, so far, in the Heartbreaker Bay series by Jill Shalvis.

Ashley Winston has six brothers (all with great beards) and one beloved mother, a mother who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Returning home to help her brothers care for their mother, she finds out her mom has given power of attorney over to a friend of her brothers, a sexy forest ranger and a stranger to Ashley. Confused, hurt, and scared, Ashley tries to find herself while staying in the hometown she couldn't wait to get away from and the man she can't seem to help falling in love with.

A great introduction to the clan of Winstons, but I did miss the dual POV I've found in that series. I really wanted to get in Drew's head as some of his actions annoyed me. I did love that he wrote poetry though!

And again, these cross-stitch covers are heaven!

I finally read (listened) to this much lauded memoir and it deserves the hype! I recommend listening to the audiobook as Walls has an excellent voice that adds a completely priceless aspect to the memoir.

Walls had a completely unique upbringing and while I often found myself really upset at some of her parents' decisions, her very obvious love for her family made me root for them despite it all. It also made me think, hey, I'm not doing too bad of a job at this whole parenting thing myself, so I'll believe until my own kiddos write a memoir about me ha.

Shooting your future husband may not be the best way to start off a mail-order bride marriage, but Regan Fontaine finds herself with high hopes after finally meeting the handsome doctor she's supposed to wed, regardless of the bullet she put in his shoulder. Colt wasn't expecting the denim wearing, rifle-toting, wealthy heiress he only knew from letters, but even he with his jaded heart starts to feel a glimmer of hope. But, will their new marriage stand up to the trials and tribulations of a small Wyoming town?

I've finally read a Beverly Jenkins, and it was so great! The characters are well-rounded, and while I didn't start with the first book in the series I never felt lost, even when meeting characters from the previous books. I especially liked all of the historical details, the clothes, the cooking, the work that went in to running a household in the 1890s American frontier. Plus, all of the other historical details AND the great author's note at the end giving readers homework to look up the historic events mentioned in the story (I shan't mention them here).

My only slight gripe is that I wished more action took place on the page. A lot of major events happened off-scene, and were just recalled by characters. Um, if a one-eyed mountain lion is taking people down, I do kind of want to see it happen!

Thank you to Avon for the ARC!

Perhaps one of my favorite contemporary romances and the book that made me fall for author Jill Shalvis.
I adored Chloe's spark, her quirks, and her drive. Chloe may have also been the first heroine I personally read who had a very real health issue, asthma, and had to actively think about her actions and how she lived, including during sexy times. Sawyer is also a great hero, and his insistence on working with, not coddling, Chloe's asthma was super sexy and eye opening to me.

I'd like to thank this book for making me fall in love with contemporary romance novels. My re-read made me fall in love all over again with Chloe and Sawyer. I mean, a hero who researches the heroine's debilitating asthma so he can help give her orgasms without sending her to the ER? Yes, please. Sawyer is frustrating, but his actions are reasonable and real. Reminds me a bit of my own true love <3. I also totally forgot about the mud bath scenes, and love the interactions between Chloe and her sisters.

Ember has always been a bit unconventional, or in the unkind words of her ex-husband, outrageous. Her best friend Ranger never thought she needed to be tamed and now that he's back after a long astronomy project in Australia, he finds himself wondering why he and Ember never took their relationship to the next level.

Ember also finds herself starstruck by her bestie, but also highly jealous of all the women who are now throwing themselves at the sexy astrophysicist. Both circle the other like binary stars, but will Ember's past relationship regrets and Ranger's future work prospects keep them from exploring their own outer limits?

Enough puns for you? I really enjoyed the cute story, didn't really get the cover AT ALL. I mean, Ranger is part owner of a ranch in Texas, but that is about the extent of his cowboy. He's a dorky, sexy scientist. Maybe throw a lab coat on him? I'm fine with the hat.

Also, Wilde's sexy times scenes veer giggle inducing territory due to the sheer amount of similes, metaphors, and puns. There is almost two pages of star/space/planet related imagery whilst some downtown action. I appreciate a good laugh, but I don't think that was the intention?

That said, I did enjoy this tale, even if cowboy romances are not quite my thing.

Thank you to Avon for the ARC!

A tiny book that overall has a great thesis but may surprise some readers with its brevity. The title and synopsis oversell what is in fact just a synthesized version of a couple lectures given by Mary Beard. I'm glad I checked this out from the library as it was a fascinating read but would have been grumpy paying the cover price of $16.95 or $9 for the Kindle version.

Basically, Beard argues Western Culture has had thousands of years of practice silencing women, gives multiple examples especially in her wheelhouse (Greek/Roman history), and ties ancient texts to modern examples.

I did really appreciate all of the images, the end notes, and the further reading lists. Also, this checks off the

I picked this novel off of Sarah MacLean's "Read More Romance" list and never really read a synopsis of it, so I was pretty startled to see how well it fits the current climate of the #MeToo movement.

Lady Prudence was brutally raped by a peer of the realm on the night of her first ball, her first season. She never told anyone for many reasons. She didn't want to be forced to wed her awful attacker. She didn't want anyone to think differently of her. She didn't think anyone would even believe her.

Four years later, she is still traumatized from the event but needs to attend a reunion ball at her former finishing school. She will be the only unmarried attendee to ever attend, so decides to elope with man who she is sure will never make her consummate the marriage. But, when a highwayman disrupts their travels, she flees the scene and her intended never searches for her.

While stumbling through the countryside, a handsome man in a coach pulled by two white horses comes upon her, but Prudence knows heroes don't exist. She coldly refuses his invitation for a ride, but then is stuck in a country inn with the same man for days during an unrelenting rain.

John is entranced by the beautiful lady he tries to rescue. He fears she needs rescuing, but he also is highly respectful of Prudence's choices. Plus, John has a secret of his own.

After days spent in each others company, and John's very sweet and patient nature, Prudence finds herself falling for a man for the first time ever. Then The Beast shows up.

I loved the intention of this novel. I loved Rodale's deft handling of Prudence's character, her worries, her fears. John was almost too good to be true in many ways, but I didn't really care because Prudence deserved someone who worshiped her.

What kept me from giving this higher marks were a few things that just bothered me personally. Stop reading here if you don't want spoilers.

I thought the handling of Prudence's rape was well done (just seeing the aftereffects), until we got a flashback scene about a third of the way through that went through the rape extensively. Plus, having to go through many flashbacks in "The Beast's" POV was a bit too much for me. Gross, didn't want to be in his head. I also thought it was shitty of John to keep his secret, especially after Prudence finally revealed her's to him.

That said, a worthwhile read!