bandherbooks's Reviews (3.65k)

what if you were the wedding planner for a couple, but you were in love with the bride AND the groom, then you got snowed in together? and they might just also be into YOU too?

a snowed-in, low angst, and hot hot hot romp in the colorado mountains. surprised they didn't bang an avalanche out along with the orgasms. the New Years Eve setting was also the perfect way to ring in my new year of reading. happy 2024!

i was a little stressed for our poor wedding planner who was SO worried she was wrecking her future lovers' nuptials, but glad we soon got that sorted.

kathryn nolan is such a great author, i want more people to read her!

Treachery, Volume 3, introduces a character I have never met before in The Dark Tower Series - Cort's niece who wants to be a gunslinger. Too bad this is unheard of for girls, but she's a crackshot anyways. I wish there was more story with her in it, but still nice to see a lady.

I'm not in love with the illustrations in this series. Often time the characters look like there eyes have been cut out...which is creepy and not the point. The excellent story lines are keeping me with it (and my Dark Tower obsession).

I found this collection of poetry on LP, and it is narrated by James Earl Jones! Amazing. I could listen to him all day. I'll be selecting a couple of the poems for my "storytime for grownups" library program.

Okay, so I only actually made it through Tessa Dare and Sarah MacLean's story (had to return to the library), but I loved what I listened to!

Tessa Dare's story features a woman reluctantly accepting a dance from the Duke who's ruining her family by calling in their debts (he doesn't know he's the reason for why she's moving), and a lovely walk in the snow that makes them fall in love.

Sarah MacLean, you crafty minx. I cannot believe the sheer depth of longing, feeling, and awe I had for a story set mainly in the claustrophobic quarters of one miserly Duke. She's the master, and this novella shows why. I loved that the characters were childhood lovers, separated by his unwillingness to marry her until he "proved himself worthy" and her unwillingness to wait around for him at home until he did. I was kept biting my nails for how these two would finally get there HEA, and oh a good one it was.

I'll pick this up again around the holidays!

I forgot to mention I read (Trust) Falling for You this past week, and not only was it a truly fun & sexy opposites attract, forced proximity trope-fest, but also it is set in the woods of Wisconsin! Wonderful novella.

Woman accidentally gets caught up and thrust into performing at a burlesque club on the hunt for her ex-lover before he gets married. Boobie tassels aside, I too felt thrust into the romance, and with the specter of cheating looming I wasn't rooting for the characters at all.

Free copy provided by the author.

by a Wisconsin poet, read for WLA lit awards. I enjoyed the exploration of the deadly sins and grief.

Actual rating 3.5 stars (the narration is SUPERB so I almost gave it a full four). Definitely a must-listen if you do choose to read this one.

I've been sitting on my thoughts for THANK YOU FOR LISTENING for two months; it was a captivating and utterly fabulous narrated experience. Was it a fabulous romance? I don't know. There's an overarching theme of loss, of many varieties, and Sewanee Chester's love interest is not on page enough for my personal liking, especially in a single POV story. I don't want to say much about who the love interest is, as Sewanee herself is figuring it out on her own throughout the story, and that sort of convoluted mystery/secret identity thing didn't always work for me.

the love interest too was both too charming and smarmy almost, but then sometimes I would be utterly taken away by some of the banter and romance. A mixed bag, for sure!

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING is definitely Sewanee's story, and if you enjoy women's fic leaning romances with lots of twists and turns, give this one a go.

I'd be absolutely remiss though not to mention the vast range of narrator Julia Whelan's talents, which she puts fully on display here; multiple characters, so many accents, she does them all! I couldn't stop listening because of her talent, which she did deftly put on display here.

Also, I wasn't certain about the disability rep for Sewanee's accident that left her with one eye. There's a lot of ennui about how that accident changed Sewanee's acting career, and her lingering grief/anxiety/jealousy about her future.

ALSO: personally i do not like being teased with a sexy night that fades to black but then gets recounted in flashback lmao, and really side-eyed some of the insider wink wink-ness of the narrators' thoughts and feelings about the romance genre.

Content notes: Sewanee is a white woman who lives in LA; her grandmother is a white 80 something woman who lives in an assisted living apartment. grandma attempts suicide (not successful) and dies at the end of the book (off-page, last chapter is at the memorial).

Super adorable, I especially loved the art. The text in the trade print was a bit small to read, but overall it was a gorgeous experience for the eyes.

the pacing dragged for me, feeling a bit repetitive on the longing and backstory pining between Hades & Persephone, but I would assume for a webtoon this is par for the course.

Will try to read more!