dermkat's Reviews (2.11k)

I enjoyed this one as much as I expected to: not going to be a favorite by any means, but enjoyable. I've read the rest of the books by this author duo (all poly romance) and the FMC in this one is the sister of a guy from the last one, and two of her three guys work are firefighters and work with one of the other guys from that book. Brooke is in grad school, vet medicine, about to do her final exams before starting clinical. She's up at her brother's cabin during "spring break" to study and her grandma (we've met her before, she's fiesty) doesn't tell her that three of her brothers friends are coming to stay for the weekend. They get snowed in, she is attracted to them all, they all like her, she's a virgin until she's not. I liked that a good portion of the book was them back home after their weekend together figuring out life and what it would look like. I do wish they would have had more time settled together before it ended and there were some continuity errors (small ones that didn't really matter to the story but bugged me), but otherwise it was an easy read and I'd still read more by this duo if there's more... The other books did better teasing who someone in the next couple would be unless I totally missed something this time. 

I really enjoyed this book! I had a feeling I would, since I enjoyed meeting these MCs as side characters in book two, which I read first for some reason. Indo wish I had been able to read them closer together so my memory was fresher, but it was in the hands of Libby. The good news is, there's a novella coming out next week about this couple, so they'll hopefully be fresh enough in my memory. Jill moves to Calgary for work, taking the opportunity to get away from some controlling people in her life. Shock: her new client is the hot grumpy TA who made her cry in undergrad years ago. Turns out he's a softy (oh my word, this man has such a beautiful soul) and they get closer. They have to deal with potential conflicts of interest, her trauma and baggage, his workaholic tendencies, his company partner, her only being there temporarily, etc. Overall, very glad I read it and I'll look forward to more from this author. Also very fun for me: I love when books are set in places I've lived/have spent time in or visited. It's so much more interactive to picture the locations mentioned! 

I have followed Keah on Instagram for a little under a year and enjoy her content, so when I saw that she wrote a book I added it to my TBR. In this collection of essays, she tells her story of growing up to be the Black disabled woman she is. Stories include how pop culture and movies influence(d) her (both positively and negatively), how something that able bodied folks think of as simple like putting hair in a ponytail was a life accomplishment for her, and how her Cerebral Palsy has affected her throughout her life. Keah was the creator of the #DisabledAndCute hashtag, which went viral, and she advocates for representation and inclusion in the beauty, fashion, and entertainment industries for Black people, people with disabilities, and especially those at that intersection. I enjoyed her book and I enjoyed listening to her read it--we like a lot of the same things (tv shows, movies, childhood favorites, etc.) but, as a mostly-able-bodied white woman, I learned a lot from her story and experiences about things that maybe never would have occured to me due to my privileged experience. At the same time, as someone who has developed chronic pain and fatigue the last few years, I did relate to and especially enjoy some of what she said--like not being able to count on her body, needing rest, having a spot on the couch that fits her body, etc.

I watched the Netflix show based on this comic series and pretty much binged it all in 24 hours. I wanted to see how different it was from its original form and I think they did a great job fleshing it out and changing things for tv. That said, I am not a huge fan of the comic medium (too busy, hard for me to focus) and as I've mentioned before, fantasy is just not my thing, reading wise. Since I much prefer to watch the genre on screen, I will definitely be watching the second season when it comes out next month (seriously the show is so good--watch season one now in preparation!) but likely won't continue reading the comics about Luther, Alison, Diego, Klaus, Number Five, and Vanya.

I think I liked this one better than the first one! I saw someone say that so many romances that get called enemies to lovers are actually "it's always been you" on at least one side, and that's true. This one, though, is full enemies to lovers. They've grown up hating each other, from feuding families (very Romeo and Juliet with less death and teenagers). She's from the more upper class snobby family, he's from a more rough and tumble farming family and the two have had rivaling Christmas parties on the same night for years. These two are in charge this year and for reasons have to plan a joint party instead. Forced promotion does its job, only one bed makes an appearance, and the first time they're together is that classic 'i hate how much I want you because I really don't like you" moment. This one is longer than the first and though the stories kind of overlap, they don't really and I wish they would have more. We'll see what happens in book three when it's released right away here. 

My first reread for the month! I read this book the summer after graduating with my English degree. I had just studied The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and my prof had mentioned this one. I couldn't recall who was responsible and I enjoyed listening to the other last month, so I borrowed this one from the library. To my delight, Matthew from Downton Abbey was the narrator! It was entertaining and I was surprised by the ending after all, even having read it only 3 years ago. I haven't read much of Christie's work but these two have been very enjoyable.

I am usually not very interested in a lot of true crime stories and don't often follow high profile criminal cases. However, when Amanda Knox, 19 year old American student, was accused of killing her British roommate in Italy I remember paying attention. She was only two years older than me and the media said a lot of crazy things about the case and Knox herself. I have been fascinated by the case ever since, watched the tv movie and Netflix documentary, and now listened to Knox's memoir. I think the reason I am so interested is that even after she was convicted, imprisoned for four years in Italy, and then acquitted, I still can't decide if I think she did it or not. Her story has emphasized the ridiculousness that the media and the Italian court put her through, which I was already somewhat aware of, but there are still some things she says that don't add up to me and I have a hard time believing she was as naive as she portrays. But, it is not up to me to decide her fate and it was still very interesting to listen to her version of things.

I bought this book while I was in PEI, after seeing some of the places and artifacts that inspired some of the stories in it. I didn't even read the back at the time-- I bought it, packed it up, brought it back to SK, and placed it on my shelf until I had time to read it. When I finally picked it up and read the first page, I quickly discovered that the characters in this book loosely inspired the Road to Avonlea tv show! I had always assumed (incorrectly, I now realize) that the Sullivans had just created the tv characters based on the Green Gables stories. It was fun to read about characters I grew up watching and loving (or hating, depending on the person), and trying to find as many differences as I could based solely on my memory of something I haven't seen in years. I loved this book. I mean, I always enjoy reading Montgomery's writing--it instantly brings me a joy that I actually experienced and understood even more while in PEI. At the very least, this sweet book acted as a lovely reprieve from the more sorrowful books I'd experienced this month and gave my aching heart a break.

This was yet another book full of hard topics but the right amount of mystery to keep me captivated. I love when books start with a big event without revealing everything about it and then backtrack to explain the story and unravel the mystery. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng did that, and so does this book. This is the story of a family who moves into a London neighborhood where all the apartments and houses open up into a gated communal park. Here, the mother and daughters discover that the seemingly safe place is actually full of secrets and danger. I enjoyed the story but the ending frustrated me even though it was probably true to life more than I'd like to think. I usually like stories with ambiguous endings and don't wrap up neatly; however, this story reveals everything but doesn't wrap up neatly because of the characters. Not sure that makes sense, but I don't want to give it away.

And now, a lesson on doing your research, by Katie.

Scene 1: Scene opens on a woman, late twenties, choosing a new audio book and stumbling (figuratively) across Girl on a Train. "I never saw the movie but I heard the book is better, so maybe I'll listen to this," she thought to herself, knowing she was very late to the party since the hype around this story had long died down and she still knew next to nothing about it.

Scene 2: Scene opens on same woman, halfway into the 9 hour long audio book finally clueing into the fact that this is NOT the book she thought it was, but an entirely different novel by a different author, simply baring a similar title.

FIVE HOURS, people... it took me almost five hours to realize it wasn't the book the Emily Blunt movie was based on.... and it only happened because I thought "I feel like this isn't going into anything I remember from the movie trailer... maybe I'll google the differences between the book and the movie" and discovered that the main character had a totally different name!

Aside from this book not being the one I anticipated, it was actually quite good and still filled with mystery and intrigue. This one is about a woman on a train who finds out the girl who had been sitting next to her later threw herself in front of said train but had put her locket in the first woman's bag to draw her into the situation and solve the conundrum. Sorry that is convoluted and yet vague... the story reveals key points in its own way so I don't want to ruin anything. I will say that part 2 has a different narrator from parts 1&3, which I loved, the audio book has an excellent narrator. Also, OH MY WORD I did not see the ending coming!!