dermkat's Reviews (2.11k)

I liked this one! It's a why choose about a girl named Harper whose awful boyfriend blindsides her and his teammates when he leaves with his other girlfriend to play for a different college team. His three teammates he lived with begrudgingly let her stay while she tries to find somewhere to live since she was supposed to move into a new place with the jerk the next day. The three, Silas, Carter, and Dylan, don't really like her but they all soon learn that they don't know the real her, and once they do it's electric between them all. She ends up with all three of them, then they decide to share and she's dating them all. Because of their actions (accidental but still their fault) she ends up getting hurt and it causes issues for a while until they all work it out. I liked that she became best friends with Carter's twin sister Casey, and am hoping Casey gets her own book with Harper's brothers but I'm not sure she will since it wouldn't fit in the "ex" theme of this series. 

I wanted to sneak in one more book for the Trans Rights Readathon, and this short, YA graphic novel got the job done. It's got one anti-social lesbian FMC (Annie) who is forced to join a school team her senior year, and the other FMC is a friend she hasn't been as close with but gets to know again since she (Bebe) is the captain of the cheerleading squad Annie joins. Bebe is one year into her transition and has become a people pleaser because she's already in the spotlight so much and doesn't like it, so she doesn't want to make a fuss (plus, her parents are very concerned about her safety and are trying to shelter her, probably too much). Together, the girls help each other (along with the rest of their squad) be more themselves. Bebe learns to stand up for herself and Annie learns it's okay to show her more gentle side. As they grow closer, they develop feelings and get together. I thought this was good and would be approachable for someone who is trying to learn more about what trans folks go through (including misgendering, tokenism, fetishisation, safety concerns, etc., so be aware of any triggers). Plus the art style was really cute! I only had one small issue, and it's that we learned the girls haven't been friends for a couple years, during which time Bebe came out and publicly transitioned, but I don't think it was ever explained why they drifted aside from them acknowledging they missed each other, and that was knowledge that I'd have liked for their story to feel more complete. 

Rounding out the trilogy, I really enjoyed this one too! It's age gap, widowed mom of three, Teddy (I think fat rep based on descriptions but majority of those were her insecurities with it and used lots of words like soft, curvy, etc. and she's a new mom, so I'm on the fence to truly call it that), with the older and grumpy superintendent (aka the boss) of the wildland firefighting team, Xander, who happens to live next door. He also delivered her newest baby (her hubs died when she was newly pregnant). He's great with the kids and really sees her, stepping up to help and show her she isn't alone. But she's still grieving ans he's married to his job, so neither of them think they ever want a relationship even though they are so drawn to each other. Eventually they give in to the attraction and eventually the feelings too. It felt like a good end to the series and overall I was decently impressed with how the three books were mostly seamless as far as plot and timelines, even as they overlapped some. I'm also excited that Xander's brother Zach IS getting a story as part of this authors new series, because it felt set up like we should care about him and his kids. 

I liked this one even more than the first in this trilogy, which I already really enjoyed! I'm don't think it was because they are each by different authors since at the start of this one I could tell I didn't connect with the author's writing style quite as quickly as I did the first. I think it was the way the story was told, which is always more important in the end. This one is second chance (a fave trope of mine), and single mom (another fave as far as seeing the MMC fall for the kid(s) too). In this case, Rowan went full girl dad for Violette's 3-4 year old daughter before she even fully accepted him back and it was adorable. He's another hotshot (wildland firefighter) and she's back in town years after her twin brother died working with their crew, but even before that she was distant because this guy broke her heart. She doesn't know the real reason that happened, and there is some forced proximity (another fave) when he's injured on the job and she's the nurse in the burn unit he's sent to. There were a few inconsistencies here and there or things that made me think "this is a different vibe than the first one for this person", which I'm sure is difficult to nail when each book is written by someone different and include the same characters, so it was easy to forgive but did niggle at me every time. Book three is next because these have captured my mood reader brain's full attention. 

I had seen this series around IG and then this first one was chosen by my book club for this month. I really enjoyed it and absolutely want to read the read the series now! Scottie is new in town and gets a job as an EMT, but it's clear she's been running from something. We eventually find out she grew up in a culty fundamentalist church situation and is dealing with religious trauma, among other things. She meets Callahan, one of the hotshots on the wildfire-fighting team and they start hooking up. He's for his own last issues and is dealing with C-PTSD. They end up facing a life and death situation together, things progress, their pasts are revealed, etc. I thought the pace of this one was interesting in that if felt like things happened fast, but it made sense situationally. Also, their committment to therapy later on made me confident that they weren't just rushing into infatuation. The spice was decently spicy. I am excited to read about the other characters set up in this book. Also, these covers are awesome! 

I really enjoyed this one!! I've liked the entire series and many more by Lauren Blakely, and I always expect her books to be a fun, numerous, spicy, easy read with some real life rep thrown in time to time. This one was the same but there's something about it I really liked. Leighton is the daughter of the hockey team's head coach, but Miles doesn't know that when they meet and then shortly after have a day together that feels like the start of something amazing for both of them. Then they discover that he plays for her dad and try for over a year to stay away from each other, but ultimately can't. The tension was great, the mutual pining and attraction, too. She has moderate hearing loss and uses hearing aids, and I didn't realize until the author note at the back that the author has similar hearing loss. She used her own experiences and interviews from others (and sensitivity readers) to inform the character. I absolutely love that and think she should have put the note at the start so readers know going in that she took the representation seriously and it's an own voices story. Leighton's deafness is an important part of her story, including the way Miles and other people interact with her because of it. He's wonderful in general, and they make a good team as they take care of his mom's four Chihuahuas, and you can really see that they're friends as well as lovers. Overall, I really liked their story and also that it set up the next two books coming this year (one in this series and one as a holiday standalone with a character from here). 

I've written this review three times and it didn't save so I'm annoyed and here's the short form:
•was rec'd for Trans Rights Readathon 
•I liked it! Both cute/fun and informative/empathy building for me
•Diego=a gay trans man (MC1), demisexual, Latino, not close with his family because they suck
•Frankie=a white, bi/pan/whatever (his words) man who loves hookups in the beginning
•classmated to best friends to business partners and roommates to lovers
•great insight for cis folks like me into what some trans people go through (affirming surgeries, transphobia, homophobia, considerations for anatomy/language/etc. during spicy scenes, both gender dysphoria and euphoria, and more)
•long novella length, is prequel to a duo about Frankie's sister, which I'll prob read as well

This was a beautiful graphic memoir about the artist, Sara, and her partner, Diana, who came out as a trans woman seven years into their relationship. It's a very emotional, raw telling of their story coming to terms with who they were, how life would change, fighting things for a while, moments of joy and frustration and anger. The art style was easy for me to follow, a detailed but soft cartoon style (sometimes when graphic books are too busy in the art style, I can't focus on it, so this was lovely). This is an important story, told in 135 pages, and everyone who doesn't understand or know about the trans experience should read it. It's informative while being honest and calling people in. It was recommended in a post for the Trans Rights Readathon, which I'm participating in from now until Trans Day of Visibility on March 31. I try to read diversely, especially seeking out queer rep, but I know as a cis woman I should be making a more intentional effort to seek out trans stories, so I hope this readathon helps me form the habit. 

I somehow only found this series earlier in the month, cruised through the first four books, and was relieved and excited to learn that this fifth and final book would be out this month. And it did not disappoint! I'm pretty sure I changed my mind with each and every book and I'm going to do it again because I think this may have ended up being my fave. I mean... Single dad to a newborn, he's the catcher in the baseball team we've gotten to know a bit more on the side as the series went on (including the hilarious momenf he met his love interest), and he's a ginger (love!). Add in a strong independent woman learning that she can let people in and have a fuller life without giving too much of herself away and losing what's she's worked for. And they decide to work together go through an orgasm wish list after he learns she's never had satisfactory sex? Yeah, I'm there. Plus, seeing the found family of the team again was lovely, and meeting her hilarious 19 year old niece who is the baby's nanny and working hard to push them together was great. I loved it and though sad the series is done, am thrilled that my guess at her setting up a new series was confirmed in the acknowledgments! 
•Latinx rep

Reread 2025: 
This series is so good!! I did almost all of this one using the audio version, only a few chapters using ebook. I really like the narrator for the FMC, and I like the narrator for the MMC when he's doing male character voices, but not my fave for female characters, but still may continue my reread of the next one via audio. I remember liking this book even more than the first one when I read them the first time and that may still be true, but I'm honestly not sure I can pick since they're so different. This time it's just two people, Tess (Rachel's bff who comes to Jacksonville for a while to escape her estranged husband who is causing issues for her at work), and Ryan (another hockey player. I like that there's still queer rep (she's bi), and that she's older than him by a good handful of years (I think 6-8, I forget). She's also plus size and portrayed well, and he has dyslexia and dysgraphia. They're kinky in a different way than the last book, and it comes by the way of her introducing him to more things because he's never really explored his own sexuality a ton, just had one night stands where he got what he needed and moved on. Tess is a firecracker and ballbuster, and may be my fave character of the entire series so far. I'm excited to read what's next for them in the bonus novella, as I can't quite remember. 
•fat rep
•disability rep
•queer rep