Let's start with the obvious. The hero, Braxton Henley, is described as having full sleeve tattoos and most of his chest and back are also covered in tattoos. So, for the amount of skin being shown by the cover model there should at least be some photo-shopped ink. Why would you not want that?

Anyway, cover aside, this was a pretty standard accidental pregnancy romance, complete with a typical can't take a compliment heroine who has extreme parent issues (poor little rich girl) and a "bad-boy" because he grew up on the wrong side of town and has tattoos but managed to pull himself up to the top due to the kindness of a stranger. He's hot, kind of a slut-shamer, a womanizer, and new-rich, but of course our heroine's magic turns him into the best guy ever.

I've read this story so many times and it has been done better than here. I did finish reading it, and it had cute moments, but the sexy-times were a bit tainted for me by the sheer amount of vomit discussed. Also, the hero had a lot of slightly disturbing inner-monologue about placating the girl to make her THINK she was making a decision, but knowing he was going to do everything in his power, nefarious or otherwise, to change her mind. Kind of gross.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Zorie reluctantly agrees to a "glamping" trip at the urging of her mom, but regrets her decision when she realizes Lennon, the boy who broke her heart, is also on the trip. All Zorie really wants to do is live life by her many lists, try and reconnect with her friends, maybe flirt with her current crush, and attend a star-gazing party during the annual Perseid meteor shower. Any and all surprises need not apply.

But, the stars have something else in mind for Zorie as she and Lennon end up sort of lost in the wilderness. Alone. Don't forget the bears though. Despite the bears, the mosquitoes and some other mishaps, these two star-crossed lovers may find roughing it in the wild the perfect time to realign.

Bennett makes my heart sing. I adore her YA romances as they are full of relate-able, quirky and adorable characters, and just enough angst and drama to make you hold your breath, but nothing ridiculous and eye-rolling.

I especially enjoyed the parents in this book, as instead of being "invisible" or off page, they were fully fleshed out and integral to the story. I loved that Lennon's moms owned a sex-toy shop (part of the conflict between the two characters families), and that Zorie had such a great relationship with her step-mom.

Lennon is super sweet and dreamy - he can take me camping anytime, especially if there is sexlaxation included!! ;)

My only *wee* quibble is a huge spoiler so stop here if you don't want to know:

I found it a bit hard to believe that Zorie was not aware of Lennon's dad's suicide being the reason why he stood her up at homecoming. While I realize her shitty dad wouldn't bother to tell her, I can't fathom Lennon's moms would not have spoken to Zorie's step-mom, or someone else at school not knowing either. Just a bit far-fetched for me.

This was my pick for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge - Indie Press Book. This is not a book I would have picked up on my own without the challenge, so that makes me happy I completed it!

Archivist Wasp thinks she is special. She killed the last Archivist and assumed the ceremonial knife and the duty of recording the memories and details of the various ghosts she captures. She knows one day she will be killed by one of the Upstarts waiting in the wings. She and her fellow villagers live a harsh life, and they wish to know more about the past and when things changed. Wasp is not a rule follower; she is often in trouble and fears for her life daily. One particularly cruel day, she encounters a ghost different than any she has ever seen before, who asks her for a favor. With nothing to lose, Wasp leaves behind the physical world and journey's with the ghost of a super soldier.

This book is so strange. I had trouble getting invested in the story as it is often slow and doesn't always fully explore the odd world Kornher-Stace has built. It is quite poetic, but there is hardly any dialogue. I don't agree with the YA classification of this novel, as I think it would be better placed in the adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy collection. It would take a pretty intrepid teen to take this one on.

An excellent audio book to listen to while on a road trip. Gaiman does a marvelous job narrating and I enjoyed his take on Norse Myths. His Thor is quite different from Marvel Thor and closer to the Thor from one of my favorite shows, The Almighty Johnsons. That show gave me the bug to take a deeper dive into Norse mythology, check it out if you haven't seen it!

I wrote down a few of my favorite "vocabulary words" so I thought I'd share:

Fimbulwinter - never ending winter preceding Ragnarok
Jorgmungundr - Midgard serpent (also subject of one of my favorite paintings at the Milwaukee Art Museum)
Sleipnir - eight-legged horse, ridden by Odin, son of Loki and
Svadilfari - horse used to help build a wall to keep giants out
Yggdrasil - world tree

No sugar required to help this delightful Mary Poppins inspired romance go down!

Carrot haired and freckled Mari "rhymes with Starry" Perkins, fresh out of the orphanage and deemed *just* okay enough to be a governess for a mill owner's brood, loses her first job after being a mere 15 minutes late on her first day in London.

Determined to find employment AND time to research the few clues to her family she has (a worn out wooden rabbit and a prayer book), Mari sneaks her way into the employ of Edgar Rochester, the Duke of Banksford, and his hellion nine-year old twins.

Edgar is flabbergasted and blown away by the witty and able governess but fears his attraction to her is completely unsuitable, especially since his alcoholic father was a notorious seducer of servants. Despite his misgivings, Mari's immediate success with his wayward children soon make her indispensable.

What ensues is a sweet romance as both Mari and Edgar fall for the other, despite class boundaries and old scars, and ending with a practically perfect in every way HEA.

I've been really enjoying Lenora Bell's romances, as they are a fun combination of swoon and comedy. This one had me laughing out loud multiple times and I loved the banter between Mari and Edgar.

The details with the steam engine being developed by Edgar were intriguing, and I loved how this was a Duke who did not bow to convention.

Two things I must also note - this may be the first time I've had a romance heroine "relieve herself" and clean up post-sex. A silly thing, but totally what actually happens.

ALSO - I cannot wait to read Edgar's sister India's book, "For the Duke's Eyes Only." Looks like it is going to be an excellent enemies to lovers tale and India is obviously modeled after Indiana Jones. Yes, please!

Hayden and Brent's best friends are getting married, creating the perfect situation for these two polar opposites to attract. Brent, a ginormous and outgoing explosives expert, and Hayden, a frosty rich girl with a hidden desire for control, finally come together after a night of escalating dares, both stunned by their chemistry.

But, their opposites may prove to be too much to overcome, as both question their feelings and Hayden struggles to choose between her happiness and a loveless arranged marriage that is needed to save her beloved father's company.

Tessa Bailey is the queen of dirty talking heroes, and this audio book is so freaky steamy. I loved it. Sometimes the story veered towards the ridiculous and the ending happened a bit too neatly, but with this level of heat, who really cares. I adored how Hayden and Brent took turns being "in control" in the bedroom, well, wherever they ended up (who knew hallway bench sexy times could be so fun)!

I'm ready for anything Bailey writes!

With such blurbs as "The Other Woman will have you questioning her on every page, in the most addictive thriller you'll read this year" and "Fiendishly clever with a twist you will not see coming," I dove into this ARC straightaway.

Yikes. What a gross, uncomfortable read. Takes gas-lighting to a whole other level. With a slate of characters you can't help but hate, including the main character, this will definitely get your book group talking but be prepared to feel kind of yucky reading it.

This will definitely be popular with readers who love the challenge of a "twist."

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC.

Evan Miller thinks his neighbor must be a curmudgeon, an old grumpy man. They bump around at odd hours of the night, never seem to leave their apartment, and never has company.

What Evan isn't expecting is the definitely grumpy, but wildly sexy Ruth Kabbah. He also isn't expecting to hear that Ruth is the town pariah for some sort of long ago incident involving Evan's boss, the local rich boy and a total asshole.

For Ruth, growing up as a black woman with Autism Spectrum Disorder in a teeny, tiny English town, has not been easy, especially since "the incident." Embracing her outcast status, Ruth keeps to herself, drawing her web-comic, wearing her beloved pajamas, and trying, for her beloved sister, to be happy.

Ruth doesn't understand and is leery of Evan's kindness and her absolute attraction to the massive, bear size hunk. Doesn't he understand he's supposed to hate her?

As Evan and Ruth size each other up, Ruth will come to find out she is worth all of Evan's efforts.

I heard about this author from Twitter, and recently bought a cheap-o subscription to Kindle Unlimited (all of Hibbert's titles are available on KU) and I'm sold! At first I wasn't aware of the UK setting, but once that was sorted in my brain I loved all the British-isms. Ruth is a great character, a woman who is very angry for very okay reasons, and the hero isn't scared of this and isn't trying to change her. That said, Evan was almost *too* perfect, but hell whatever. All men should aspire to be Evan.

Ironically, I picked this title because it was the first title I saw, and I didn't realize until I started that Ruth has Autism Spectrum Disorder. I recently read (and also loved) Helen Hoang's [b:The Kiss Quotient|36199084|The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient, #1)|Helen Hoang|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1512080903s/36199084.jpg|57828311], which also features a female character with ASD. The authors of both books also have ASD, so the handling of the story and characters felt authentic and real, not badly stereo-typed.

Matthias, a ridiculously rich, handsome, powerful, and secretive man who is connected with the same agency as Book 1 in this series, is hired to track down the sole-survivor of a college massacre that left his half-brother dead.

Kayla, now a waitress with a new name, has been on the run since the massacre. People believe she may have killed all of her roommates, but she was cleared, legally at least. She's suspicious of the delicious hottie in the suit who claims to be in town for 'business,' so out of place in the greasy spoon cafe she works at, but is also tempted by his interest in her.

As the cat and mouse game between them grows, so does their attraction. Matthias finally comes clean, but the true reason he was hired to find her threatens to hurt them both.

I like these books, but I find the heroes to be a bit too similar. Appearance, mannerism, and all very taciturn. The heroines are what makes these fun.

A young-ish (twenty something maybe) woman with the ability to tap into a magical power just wants to keep her land and her house, but is drawn into a war when she rescues a young spy who is more than he appears to be.

Jasminda, who's father came from Lagamiri and who's mother came from Elsira, the two countries separated by a magical force that may be breached by an evil force, does not fit in anywhere. Her skin color and magical powers make her a "grol," a derogatory term for full-blooded Lagamiri, but her Elsiran blood make her also not fit in with the Lagamiri refuges trying to escape their evil over-lord. Her mother's family is trying to cut off all ties and her father and the rest of her family is dead. All Jasminda has left is her farm, but has suddenly and suspiciously been given a high tax she can only pay if she signs papers to cede all rights to her mother's name and family. Hmmmm...

Plus, her home has been invaded by a troop of soldiers who have captured a spy. A very good looking young man spy. A spy who Jasminda is drawn to help. A spy who may be oh so much more.

The book had me up until the point we found out who Jack was. Then the book took a decidedly different tone and turned into more of a romance novel, which I'm fine with, but also felt like a bit of a different read. Everything from that point felt rushed and a bit unexplained, and I wanted so much more explanation.

A different reviewer said this is supposed to be set in an "alternate 1920s" period, which I guess I understand now that I've seen it, as there are phones, "air ships," guns, and other powered, modern items, but it also didn't really feel that way while reading it.

What really worked for me was the discussion of race and racism in this fictional universe. That made it feel really like the 1920s, or at least post-American Civil War, just with different names for the North and South.

The romance was pretty swoony at times, but also infuriating. Since the characters were a bit older than teenagers, they felt a bit 'too old' to be acting some of the ways they did, but also not old enough to be acting other ways, if that makes sense? This feels more like a "New Adult" book which may be confused for YA, kind of like Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses series. (FYI there is described sex on the page a few times which I liked, but others who look at the cover and think YA may not).

I read an interview given by L. Penelope and I will definitely be reading her next work. I think this one, adapted from a previously self-published work, has great bones so I think with time and maturity her writing will only improve!

An intriguing start to what looks like a series, per the Goodreads description (but based on the reading I'd say this can also stand-alone). The world building was okay, I just wanted more.