One of those books I guess I'm glad I read, but will definitely never read again. Captivating prose, but a decidedly grotesque and squeamish story revolving around an self-doubting 18 year old's study abroad trip to Denmark that turns into an affair with an older, racist Danish nationalist.

I may be getting older, but I definitely wanted to shake this girl. I kept thinking the story would turn more sinister than it ended up being, which was a bit disappointing?

I thought I'd love this tale of a bad boy biker pretending he and his buddies were wedding planners, but alas the premise was way better than the actual story. I was hoping for a light-hearted rom-com, but instead found this to be emotionally all over the place.

Why am I even bothering trying to read "literary fiction" right now? It doesn't make me happy and I'm too full of anxiety from LIFE to really enjoy having tricks played on me by books. Bye, back to romance novels.

"But we were also known as the Shimmy Shimmy Bangs. We were the Lady Robin Hoods of the American Southwest. And we were going to do one last jewel heist. The biggest of them all. The North Star."

Nick Norton celebrated his 40th birthday in jail, but now he's out and determined to keep on the straight and narrow. No more lock-picking, no more jewel heists, no more gambling.

But, this motorcycle riding cinnamon roll is in for the greatest heist of his life when he is unwittingly roped into helping a beautiful and hilarious woman steal a diamond engagement ring. A theft she uses to help pay for and reclaim her elderly neighbor's pawned items. A gorgeous, modern day Robin Hood.

Stella and her two besties are preparing for their final heist, their last hurrah, and is not in the market for another partner, romantic or otherwise. But, Nick is completely and irresistibly sweet, not to mention utterly delicious. When her two friends are hurt in a car accident, Stella figures out she may actually need Nick's help after all.

What follows is a slightly insta-love but so good romance that you don't care heist story that just is the perfect combination of steam, heart, and fun. Similar to Tamara Morgan's Stealing Mr. Right but with SEX. Yes.

I was not expecting this book and I loved it so much.

Highly recommend. Also, a cute dachshund and great female friendships that I hope are explored in more books.

Fairly standard New Adult romance featuring a bad-boy player who falls hard for his friend after they have a drunk "one night stand" that turns into a fling that turns into love.

The story opens with a bang, as Allie, hiding from the long-term boyfriend she recently dumped, barges in and and busts up hockey player Dean's three-way and then ends up sleeping with him the same night after a bottle of tequila.

I loved seeing Dean beg Allie. I loved that Allie owns her sexuality and but also fears her dependence on having a boyfriend. I didn't enjoy that the characters' first time together was told in bits and pieces as a booze-fueled flashback that Allie only slowly begins to remember after waking up naked with Dean.

The story felt a bit bloated at times and the romance arc wasn't the most thrilling for me personally, but it was overall a fun audio book. The male narrator was pleasant, including his female voices, and I liked the female narrator as well. I would listen to the previous three books in the series.

Content warnings for alcohol, drugs, secondary character death, and depression.

A spangled, American flag thong is the last thing Robyn Flores was expecting to find in what she thought was HER bag of clean laundry. Having a laundry mystery is not what the frazzled elementary school teacher needs when she is already at risk of losing her job for chronic lateness and floundering to accomplish pretty much anything, including being the maid of honor for her best friend's wedding.

Zac Fallon, Captain American lookalike and devastatingly charming, is the owner of the thong and and Robyn's new downstairs neighbor. A world traveler and male stripper, Fallon is blown away by the woman he finds desperately using his clean clothes to clean up a coffee spill.

Despite their immediate attraction and a sort of first dinner date, Fallon shuts down Robyn's further attempts to get to know him. She can't understand why, until she realizes she made a crack about not having trashy male stripper's at her best friend's upcoming bachelorette party. The same bachelorette party Fllon and his fellow strippers show up at.

What follows is a breathtakingly sexy romance where both Robyn and Fallon come to realize that what is on the surface is not the whole story, and that despite their decidedly opposite careers, upbringings, and families, what they have in common is far more than they could have ever dreamed.

So fun, with lots of witty banter but also wonderfully serious moments. I loved the entire story arc and could not put this one down. A perfect next read for those who loved The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory or The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang!

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reading copy!

FYI - the audiobook is fantastic! I listened to it for my second read and the two narrators were wonderful and really brought the story alive.

I received a free copy in exchange for a fair review!

Gabe Powers, urban-legend hunter and television host, is literally knocked off his feet when quirky and charming sound-engineer Lily Jameson accidentally bashed him in the head with her equipment.

Lily has no idea that Gabe is a TV star, that is until she's hired to work with him on his hunt for ghosts in her Southern Georgia town. Too bad that contract also comes with a no-relationships clause.

What these two will discover is that while ghosts may or may not exist, what is really truly real is the power of love.

Delightfully charming Rendell has a knack for making you absolutely fall for her scruffy, 40-something heroes as fast as they fall for the heroines, instantly. This story is also full of fun secondary characters, including a parrot named General.

I did have a little bit of a hard time with the last bit of the book, as I was really worried about how these two would find their HEA, but it was worth the wait.

Gabe and Addison meet once a month for a weekend of hot sexy-times in the apartment above Gabe's Bourbon Street bar. For single dad Gabe it is the perfect arrangement, except after six months he has totally caught feelings for the historical renovation architect.

Addison loves her monthly escape with Gabe, but now she's moving to New Orleans. And not expecting to find out her employer is in charge of renovating Gabe's bar. Addison thought she could ghost Gabe, but now he knows she's in town, and he wants more.

Thinking he'll forget all about her once he finds out she has a daughter, Addison is astounded to find out the sexy and charming barkeep also has a child, the same age as her's. And Gabe is ready to go all in.

What started as a fairly sexy Big Easy romance turned into a total snooze for me because most of the story is spent with the two characters discussing parenting strategies and trying to sneakily hookup in a laundry room.

I loved the narrator's sexy voice, so he kept me coming back. And, if you are into single-parent romances with very low-angst, this is the perfect story for you. As a mom, I just found this to be a bit too real and not the escape I was hoping for. Also, the constant talk about having erections and wet underwear around the kiddos was a bit yeesh.

Other than that, a really sweet story.

Salt Houses follows a Palestinian family through the generations as they live, love, and move throughout the Middle East and the world. The narrative structure is similar to Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, as each chapter is narrated by a different family member in a different time period, always moving forward in time.

What I liked the most was while the characters are obviously impacted by historical events (The Six Days War, 9/11, etc), they are not all major players in these events. Instead we see how these events have impact on "every day people" who are caught up in, for better or worse, living.

Readers who enjoy historical fiction and who would like to find empathy and commonality will find a lot to like in Alyan's novel.

While we discuss this book for my library's chapter of Book to Art Club, we'll be creating Rorschach ink prints out of various supplies. I wanted to do tea staining, but alas did not have the supplies.

I one-clicked Never Sweeter (currently on sale for $.99 for Kindle) when several people/authors I respect highly recommended it.

For a romance featuring a 20 year-old-girl falling in love with her former high school bully, a bully that was in a car that hit her and put her in the hospital, almost costing her her life (yikes), I think Stein did an amazing and believable job helping these two find their HEA.

The story is extremely erotic, and you can't help but fall in love with the ginormous wrestler Tate, even though I as the reader was just as hesitant with him as Letty was (for very real reasons). I really liked that this story was "New Adult" and both characters are young, which helps me when the story is so very angsty.

What kept me from loving the novel was the rushed ending and what I felt was an odd plot choice, Tate's decision to throw underground wrestling matches for the mob (??).

SPOILER re: Tate's sexual experience(s).

Spoiler

I was also surprised by the fact Letty was not a version (bravo Stein) and that Tate was! Well, Tate's never had complete penetrative sex due to his "pringle's can cock." Yikes. I liked the discussion about how Tate feels he isn't really a virgin because of his experiences, which are definitely vast and varied, including BDSM, threesomes, including with men, and other acts. So, while Letty "isn't a virgin" she is definitely still far less experienced than Tate. I liked that this balanced the story out.

BUT, that said, Stein has very unique voice and I will definitely be reading more of her novels in the future!