Joyous Julie is aghast her blind date wears a tie and white shirt to the taco place they meet at for their date, won't eat street corn with her, and is worried everything is just too messy. The date is a bust. But, Tom was super cute, and he makes the perfect "fake boyfriend" to get her parents off her back during their phone calls. Until they invite both Julie and Tom home for Christmas.

When Julie calls, Tom cannot believe it. The date was a disaster! But also, her request is intriguing, and Tom would otherwise be home alone for Christmas. So they go, and Tom and Julie realize that opposites really can attract.

Super fun, I love a fake dating story. Tom definitely has fire hidden under his ties, and it was really fun to see him unravel for Julie. I also loved the gingerbread "suger rush" inspired baking challenge Julie's parents force them to do. Oh, there's only one twin bed!

Thank you to the author for the ARC

Well, this is a thing that I read. I'm begging all bookstores/libraries/whatever to please not shelve this in a romance because it is certainly not a romance (cliff hanger, no HEA). Definitely angsty and with a lot of sex that I would not call romantic but is certainly titillating and definitely toeing the non-consensual line. I'm sure there will be some buzz and demand, but this is not going to be one I recommend except for those who are intrigued.

My friend Allie described it as early aughts Literotica style of writing and I agree. I will not say why I know about that ha ha ha. If you do read, be prepared for brutal blow jobs, an overload of brand names, and OTT dialogue/emotions. When Laura described Maxim's penis as a birthday candle I about died.

If you saw the movie, this will answer a few questions (especially about the beginning) and ends in a completely different spot.

Finally, a novel that lives up to the hype I've heard about it. A simply haunting, poetic, and dare I say gentle dystopian story that weaves between before and after a horrible flu hits the entire world. Various players, including a famous actor, his child, his ex-wives, a former paparazzo now EMT, and a child actress share narratives throughout as we follow a troupe of musicians and Shakespearean actors in their caravan of busted down vehicles pulled by horses.

Lovely. Nice to see that a dystopian future may include Shakespeare, music, and humanity (along with the other scarier aspects). Highly recommend.

The Traveling Symphony, because survival isn't enough.

I was hoping to find my next binge-worthy series but alas this took me an actual eon to finish, and I'm blaming mostly 2020 brain for this not holding my attention. Demon doctors and contract killers is absolutely my jam, as is hate sex, and there was A LOT of that here. Also some interesting discussions about a heroine who cannot orgasm with a partner (but can with herself) but the reasoning behind it turned out to be not magical but simply from an assault, which was super disappointing (and it was magically gone after one short discussion).

I might try others in this series at some point but I don't feel pressed to do so.

So I think I read this in a not great mood. It was hard to get lost in a world of the rich, especially after falling so in love with Shupe's previous series which had a thread of social justice woven into the stories. Here, we have a rich heiress tennis player who must marry her childhood friend or be ruined (and ruining her engagement to a British Duke). Harrison Archer, our scoundrel, has been pining for Maddie forever, but after hearing her say something that devastated him at her coming out ball, he left to cat it up in Europe, but has now returned determined to make her his wife. Oh, and to ruin his family along the way.

Harrison reminded me a bit of Jay Gatsby, and not in a great way. There were a lot of loose threads and plot points, including a mystery about who is trying to throw Maddie off her tennis game, and ultimately this book read more soapy than romantic to me. The characters get married quite quickly in the early parts of the novel and the story swerves to focus on the revenge plot, and lies, to move forward.

That said when Harrison and Maddie are exploring their attraction to each and are on page falling in love, those scenes sent me. And the scenes were he's trying to seduce her. Wowser meowser.

Uneven, but I still devoured the whole thing because I'm an avowed Shupe fangirl.

Thank you to Avon for the ARC

Well, Elizabeth Hoyt saved me from yet another reading slump. December had some lackluster moments and this one just swept me away.

Our heroine is a lady in hiding, pretending to be simply a governess/companion for years as she hides from her past while also hiding her role as a "Wise Woman" in a secret order who exist to protect and aid women. Freya is thrilled and so angry that the man who betrayed her brother is also at a house party she is attending as part of her charges' debut and is determined to find out the info she's search for AND get her revenge.

But he's now a Duke, and he's super gorgeous, and he's also not recognizing Freya who last saw him as a young girl. But he might also not be as culpable for her brother's downfall, and the secret shames of the past mean they might have more in common now then ever before. Including some major sparks.

Unf this was so full of anger and hate and then deep passionate love. There was some things regarding his dead wife that I'm not sure on the rep of.

Thank you to Forever for the ARC!

I've had Jess Michaels on my TBR list for so long! No longer! All my favs represented!

Christmas treePINING, he's always loved her
Crying faceA hero who is okay with crying
SwanA 12 days of Christmas themed house party
Shushing faceSecret sex pact!!!
Heart exclamationOld grief, new love

I always look forward to this anthology at the end of the year, and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel just may have put out my all-time fav so far. With an amazing collection of stories from authors I already love with some new names that are now on my short list to watch, Volume 6 is a triumph! Mia Hopkins, wow it felt good to be back in your writing!

Sparks fly immediately between Jeremiah and the the cute, sparkly lip-glossed wearing white man Jeremiah meets as he helps get his drunk friends tucked safely away at home. But, duty calls and the overworked EMT doesn't catch the man's name. Well, at least not until the reconnect after one of the friends again needs medical assistance and a trip to the ER on the 4th of July.

Colin and Jeremiah both have huge decisions to make and dreams to catch in this lush debut romance from Jayce Ellis. The conflicts in the story-line are more internal and less about Colin and Jeremiah's romance, which is supremely hot and super sexy when they are on the page together.

A promising start from an author to watch!

CW: Jeremiah worries about coming out to his family, his brother makes homophobic statements. Alcohol use, descriptions of medical gore