George is a fern. George does not want a human to buy him from Garden Palace and bring him home. George doesn’t want to be trapped indoors in a house. George wants to be free in the garden with the other plants. One day, Brenda buys George, brings him home, and takes care of him. At first, George is not happy about this, but then he learns to appreciate Brenda and everything she does for him.

The House Plant is a short story that totally gave me Toy Story vibes. I loved George’s story, and how he learned about unconditional love and how it’s okay to depend on the people willing to give that to you. I liked how it was written from George’s perspective while Brenda is telling her friends how he came to live with them. It was cute how George disagreed with Brenda’s story at first, but then you can see how he softens towards her.

Jeremy Ray wrote an endearing story that totally captured my heart. Now I need to go buy a fern!

Thank you to the author for an ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I have owned Simon vs the Homo Sapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli for a few years, but never read it. What was I waiting for? I loved Simon. His coming of age story was written beautifully, in my opinion, however, I only gave it 4 stars because I felt the ending was rushed. Like he finds out who the anonymous person he’s been emailing for months is, and then we didn’t get them together as much as I liked. It wasn’t insta love because of the emailing, but it felt that way at the end for me.

Darcy Phillips is great at giving love advice, but not so great at making it work for her own relationships. Darcy is bi-sexual and in love with her best friend Brooke. Brooke is not aware of Darcy’s feelings, and she is in love with someone else. Students in Darcy’s high school leave letters in locker 89 asking for relationship advice, and Darcy responds anonymously typically giving spot on advice, but sometimes using her anonymity to her advantage.

When the star of the swim team, Alexander Brougham catches Darcy taking the letters out of locker 89, he makes a deal with her. He will keep her secret if she helps him get his ex-girlfriend back. There are things that Darcy doesn’t want to come to light if people find out she’s behind locker 89 so she agrees to help Brougham. How hard can it be to make someone fall in love with someone they’ve already broken up with?

I really enjoyed this contemporary young adult romance. I thought the premise was original and liked that the main character was bi-sexual. It brought a diverse aspect to the story. Darcy was relatable because although she was trying to help people she also wanted to find happiness herself. Sometimes she didn’t make the best decisions when it came to her own happiness, and while she makes mistakes, she learns from them. I enjoyed Brougham’s story as well and liked reading as his business deal with Darcy progressed into friendship.

I really enjoyed everything about this story – the friendships, the romance, and the familial bonds particularly the relationship between Darcy and her sister Ainsley. Sophie Gonzalez has a way of writing rom-coms where they are funny, but not over the top.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Alice and her boyfriend, Leo move into a newly renovated house in an exclusive, gated community called The Circle. The house is everything they have dreamed of. When they host a party with all of their new neighbors, a strange man shows up, who Alice mistakes as one of the neighbors. When he shows up at her door again, Alice finds out that this man was not a neighbor, but a private investigator. He tells her that someone was murdered in their house and he’s investigating it.

Alice finds herself drawn into the investigation of the therapist, Nina who was murdered there. Alice becomes obsessed and can’t figure out why none of the neighbors wants to talk to her about it. Most say they just want to put it in the past, but Alice thinks they are all hiding something.

I really enjoyed this mystery especially the beginning. It was intriguing; fast paced, and held my interest. I did not want to put it down. I liked how difficult it was to figure out the neighbors in The Circle especially with all their secretiveness. Each one of them seemed to have a motive to murder Nina. The problem I had with this book was the last third of it. It was so hard to like Alice especially with her obsession with someone who was murdered that she never met. She put herself in danger throughout the book and made some awful decisions. There were times I just wanted to yell at her or shake some sense into her! For the most part, I did enjoy this book though. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Daisy Shoemaker seems to have it all - a beautiful home, a happy marriage, and a thriving cooking business, but she also has a rebellious daughter and recently lost her best friend to cancer. She can’t sleep and often feels lonely. When Daisy starts receiving emails for a woman named Diana Starling, she suspects Diana lives a much more glamorous life. A life she would like to live.

When the ladies decide to meet, they quickly become friends. As they get closer, Daisy begins to question who Diana really is and what brought her into Daisy’s life. Was their meeting really accidental or did Diana show up for a reason?

I really enjoyed this story about surviving our pasts, confronting our futures, and the sustaining bonds of friendship. Diana had a traumatic experience as a young girl which lead her to Daisy many years later. I enjoyed both of these characters and figuring out how their lives intertwined.

Daisy’s relationship with her daughter, Beatrice was written honestly and realistically showed the struggle between a mother and teenage daughter trying to figure out who she wants to be.

That Summer touches on some serious topics, but is also a great beach read. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Sutton Foster, who did an excellent job of bringing the story to life.

Jennifer Weiner has become one of my favorite Women’s Fiction authors. Her stories are so complex and written beautifully. She transports her readers to the setting of her books and makes them feel like they are there.

The Brennans are an Irish Catholic family who have been torn apart by things that happened in the past. After Sunday Brennan is in a drunk driving accident she is forced to return home to her family in NY. I loved all of the Brennan siblings and their interactions with each other. Sunday was my favorite character, and I loved how once she’s back in NY, she brings so much out in her family, forcing them all to face what happened before she left.

This book is told in multiple points of views. There are a lot of them, but it completely worked for this story. The author did a great job transitioning between chapters.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. It has some mixed reviews, but I absolutely loved it. Set in Westchester county, NY, where I used to live, I felt a lot of nostalgia when places I know were mentioned. I also felt the author made this story very relatable for anyone who grew up in an Irish Catholic family.

I picked this as my Book of the Month book for July, but also had an ALC through NetGalley and MacMillan Audio which I listened to in two days. I just couldn’t stop because this story had me completely immersed and intrigued the entire time. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction.

“They say life is full of surprises. That our dreams really can come true.  Then again, so can our nightmares…”
– Gossip Girl
 
“All I know is sometimes, if there’s too many white folks…I get nervous.” –Get Out
 
Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where the students work hard to get into the colleges of their dreams.  Most students are wealthy and seem to be perfect, but one day that all changes when anonymous texts by someone calling themselves “Aces” start targeting two students, Devon and Chiamaka.  Devon is talented musician who keeps to himself, and Chi is the head girl who isn’t afraid to get what she wants.  So why is Aces out to get them both? 
 
Ace of Spades was one of my most anticipated summer reads, and it did not disappoint.  I loved the dual point of views between Devon and Chi.  Both Devon and Chi’s characters are developed really well throughout the story, and the author, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, gave us a clear insight into each of them.  The story definitely has Gossip Girl and Get Out vibes so I think it was perfect that the author started the book with quotes from each of these. 
 
I listened to the audiobook, and loved it. I really didn’t want to turn it off because I felt the two narrators, Jeanette Illidge and Tapiwa Mugweni, did such a great job of creating suspense in a story that touches on controversial topics such as racism, homophobia, bullying and suicide ideation.  I needed to see where the story was going and just had to know who Aces was and why they were targeting these two students. 
 
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an auto buy author for me so when I heard about Malibu Rising, I knew I needed to read it. I will say this book totally lived up to the hype for me.

For the Riva siblings, their annual summer party is typically the highlight of the year, but in 1983 things will change for all of them. Children of the famous musician Mick Riva they have all grown up in the spotlight. Nina is a supermodel and talented surfer. Jay is a championship surfer. Hud is a photographer who is known for taking photos of Jay surfing. And Kit, the youngest of the Rivas, who is adored by all of them.

I loved all of the Riva kids and their stories. I liked that they each had their own things going on, but were always a close knit family. If I had to pick a favorite of the siblings, I would say it was Hud because I really liked his storyline.

The first part of book is told in dual timelines, and I really loved the parts of the book where we flashback to Mick and June’s relationship and how it lead up to Nina Riva’s infamous party in 1983.

The second part of the book is at the party and although a lot of unnecessary side characters are brought into the book at this time, I enjoyed seeing how the party would unfold.

TJR has done it again with another great historical fiction story. She has great character development, and I totally felt transported to 1983 while reading. I wanted things to work out for all of the Rivas and loved how it all came together in the end.

Tara Park does not do serious relationships. Neither does Seth Kim, but when a game of truth or dare turns into Tara going on 4 dates with Seth, but not falling for him she accepts the dare. I thought this had such a cute premise that I was excited when I got a copy of the audiobook through Macmillan Audio and NetGalley.

This was such a fun story, and the chemistry between Tara and Seth was undeniable from the first scene. I did not realize how steamy this book would be though. I’m moderate spice when it comes to romance, but the steam factor did not bother me at all. It worked for their storyline. The author, Jayci Lee, did a great job with character development while combining it with the steam.

Both characters had their reasons for not wanting serious relationships, but I felt that part of the story was a bit drawn out. I just wanted them to admit their feelings for each other and after a while I got a little annoyed that they wouldn’t.

When I requested this ARC, I did not realize this is the second book in a series, but it can be read as a standalone. I do plan to go back and read it at some point. Jayci Lee is a new to me author, but I look forward to reading more of her books.

This was a fun read! I wanted to read it because it’s set in Salem, MA, which is one of my favorite towns. I do think this may have been a little to YA for me though. The story was cute though. I listened to it on audible and thought the narrator did a good job.