6/19/25: a perfectly adequate teen romance. I think teens will love it.

6/8/25: ohhhhhh, I loved this even more than Bookshops and Bonedust. Cozy, coffee, fantasy, warm gooey feelings engaged!

6/8/25: This was fun and mostly lighthearted. I think the pace moved too quickly for me. I wanted it to slow down so we could get the full development of the characters. I wanted more ranch and horse content. This could have been set anywhere because we don't get to see all the work the characters are supposedly putting in on the ranch. It could have been a family-owned coffee shop and the story would have turned out nearly the same. If I read a cowboy romance, I want it steeped in the setting to the degree that the story could not work anywhere else other than a ranch. I don't feel like Sage went deep enough into the head and heart of Emmy and Luke. Their inner world remained fairly surface level. Emmy overcomes trauma, but we don't really get to see the mechanics of how she did it. She was traumatized and then she met Luke and he hugged her and now she isn't traumatized. Ok...but what went on internally that lead to that healing? Emmy has ADHD but this is also SUPER surface level. She is just occasionally indecisive and sometimes has sensory issues. Thassit. That's all we learn about ADHD, which is, again, surface level. This is a fun romance if you aren't expecting much and just want a timepass or something you don't have to think too much about and that won't trigger a lot of feelings. It does have fairly heavy steam too--I'd say 4/5 spicy jalapenos.

6/3/25: I like when a cozy mystery has a non-murder mystery (theft, etc). Amanda Flower consistently does that in the candy shop novellas. They're a fun bite-size slice of the larger series arc.

6/1/25: 3.5 Twisty and asks some interesting questions.

5/30/25: This book is so popular I feel like, did I read the same book as everyone else? Cameron believes creativity comes from a higher power and is outside of ourselves rather than something that comes from inside the self. She seems to believe that the only path to creativity is through healing psychological trauma. I firmly believe that creativity, while potentially influenced by someone's spirituality, can come from within a person the same as any craft. I also don't believe you have to experience trauma to be a creative person or that the only way to healing or creativity is through trauma. I'm going to say it--the activities were lame pop psychology. There is much better stuff out there on healing trauma than this and probably better stuff on creativity too. Did not find it revelatory or helpful. 

5/27/25: 3.5 stars. This was so cute and I love a good puzzle and sentient house! I listened to it on audiobook and I would like to re-read it with my eyes because I know I missed some stuff listening to it. I likely will rate it higher on re-read. Good characters and some edge-of-your-seat action. And a cat named banana peel because its always underfoot. 

5/21/25: I can tell Lerner mainly writes nonfiction as the tone had an oddly detached feel. It was the narrator telling you what happened instead of the author showing you and really letting us get inside Amy's head. It was more so Amy's story than an exploration of sisterhood.

5/20/25: excellent exploration of unhealth relationships in today's weird dating world full of narcissistic men. I wanted it to be a bit more unhinged, but it was a an excellent, quiet study on the topic.

5/19/25: this was tedious. more of a diary than a memoir. and lots of pretention whinging?