This was a fascinating retelling of Hades and Persephone in the Year Without A Summer Regency England. I loved the dates at the beginning of each chapter and the setting coming to life through the characters' eyes - it was so different from Cora vs. Adam's perspective. The inclusion of religion felt reasonable without being trite. The aggressive insta-love on both sides felt overly unrealistic to me, though. I was often taken out of the story when she would address him as just "Duke" - why couldn't she just say "your Grace?" There were also times that it felt like the author would do a fine job showing an emotion and then also feel the need to tell it - like after Cora takes back some agency in a compelling dialogue, there is a paragraph of her reaction, including this sentence: "She thrilled with feminine power" - I think the scene would've stood better on its own two feet. Of course these are minor issues; I really enjoyed this overall! 

Such a cute fake-turned-real relationship between old friends at Christmas! Christian was so understanding and appreciative of the real Megan which was really great to see shown on the page. I felt like Megan's conflict with Sophie was wrapped up too neatly, but most of the other character interactions felt realistic. The settings/setups were standard yet didn't feel cliché; I really enjoyed this read!

A quick read about a writer who loves Jane Austen finding her own love! This was a VERY self-aware Austen-inspired heroine who made the same observations repeatedly about how she was living out her own Austen romance. Even other characters got in on it. She also writes a book in the book based on her life based on Austen stories, which imo requires some desire to want to see Austen's stories covered in different contexts. I guessed the ending quickly but still liked how the relationship ended up overall; some of the miscommunication along the way felt tiresome. Viviana, the protagonist, was quick to judge and also often delayed the plot with her continual need for rest and breaks from everyone - I really disliked how much she ignored texts from her sister in particular. I also would've liked more description: let me see the game table where they're having board game night or know what the writing conference session is about rather than having the same scene of a run where she wonders why Jack is acting weird. I also wanted a final confrontation between Viviana and Gregory - was he really using her only to talk to her dad? But none of that took away from the easy readable nature of this novel or the ultimately sweet romance. This is a fun read that I'd recommend to people who are fine with the inspiration being named throughout the book! 

A 5 star read with a few mechanical errors that took me out of the story. Quincy is not Emma, yet she is a Brower heroine, so there is a sense of wistfulness to the longing/striving towards her goal that is delightfully suited to the 19-year-old girl making her own way in the world. My absolute favorite moment was when Quincy

gave Arch his ancestor's "lost" poetry collection

because it was so in line with both characters but also felt super indulgent as a reader. Even the side characters felt realistic with full lives, enough that the main character can observe and recognize as separate from her own. Highly recommend this one!

Once I started reading, I had to finish this in one sitting. Bowler's tone was refreshingly real and accessible while still being thoughtful and deeply poignant. There was humor and grief but, above all, authenticity: that sometimes you bow your head gratefully for the life you've been given and other times you look up in confusion, wondering how to go on. "It takes great courage to live."

This was a light romance about a girl who works in a bookstore and a guy who makes bookshelves who both do trivia quiz bowls in LA. The daily to-do list feature was cool as we got a glimpse into Nina's ordinary life, though I felt like her character wasn't always consistent. I would've liked way more scenes with the family beyond stereotypes, though I thought the children characters were done well.

This was an intriguing look into two women's lives at the same spot in Ireland separated by 100 years - both searching for identity, purpose, and love - though I sometimes felt like the pacing dragged and I felt like Anna's sections didn't always read as a diary from 100 years ago. Still, I enjoyed the read overall!

This was a quick, enjoyable historical mystery. I was surprised with the reveal of the murderer! I would've liked more depth in the younger adult characters besides the main character, Beatrice, and her love interest, the Duke, but what was there worked well enough. 

This book shared tons of really interesting concepts and experiments; most insightful for me was about restaurant ordering based on identity perception. Some information felt more cut and dry; other parts seemed very speculative. 

This book was so fun! A book about a contestant on an English baking show finding love on a dreamy English estate would be good enough - then add in an intriguing mystery to the slow burn romance, and there's a fun page turner that had a twist I didn't expect. The romance was sweet, the mystery was surprising, and the setting was great. I would've loved more time with the other bakers, but what we did get was really good.