This was a one-sitting listen! It's the first stand-up-centered romance I've read and that was refreshing. The FMC's unrelenting ADHD and sporadic insecurity was relatable without becoming a burden to sludge through. I also LOVED the Deaf representation and use of ASL.

I thought it was moving, relatable, and grounded in realism.

That being said I found parts kind of boring and unremarkable. I will certainly explore more of Tarah DeWitt's stories. She feels in the vein of Chloe Liese and Hannah Bonam-Young, both of whom you know I adore!

Single Dad, Friends to Lovers, age gap, fake dating, forced proximity

I'm just as surprised as anyone to be giving this five stars.

It really is like if Alex and Poppy met as adults while competing to write Evelyn Hugo's memoir. That's the book. But set it in Georgia because it needs to be even more catered to me.

(She did a great job capturing Georgia and the golden isles, but I will say the two main issues were her use of directions "up" and "down" and

implying Atlanta is a viable middle-ground in the end

. Also saying her environmental mother's front door remained open year round. Never in Georgia and NEVER NEVER for an environmentalist.)

I cried in a crowded subway car on my way home from work tonight as if I was in my luteal phase and I even checked and I AM NOT! So you know it hit.

I totally understand how people can not jive with this book. (It's not one I'll die on a hill defending.) But I thought it was a thoughtful, fun Emily Henry novel filled with heart.  The romance was not the center and it was a little cheesy and fast, but men written by Emily Henry are just better than fiction.

I thought the pacing of the romance and the research story moved swiftly which could have been make or break.

it was going to be 4 stars until the very end and I couldn't hold back.

What a special collection of words. I've finally picked up an Olivie Blake and am happy to report that her writing meets and exceeds the high expectations that had grown in my head.

This is a weird book that follows an ensemble of odd characters embarking on unimaginable adventures.

While it is classified as an "adult novel" there are subtle ya vibes and I think this novel would be appropriate for a wide range of readers.

I'm not going to pretend I understood the whole thing, or that even I knew what was happening most of the time, but that didn't get in the way of my investing in the characters and their stakes and enjoying the ride. It's laugh out loud funny and corny at times but in an endearing way.  That being said, high school me would have HATED this book. I was so literal and this book is very figurative.  While everything is real, it's quite abstract. I will say audio is 100% the way to do this if you're like me and a slow reader who can get bogged down by not understanding every sentence as it's presented.

This story and these characters will live on in my heart.

I was gagged when a big reveal in the end was that the man she fell in love with is in fact a progressive and not the conservative Republican she'd assumed and forced herself to accept

If I could arrange for Ali Hazelwood to write my obituary, I'd die a happy girl.  "joy thieving comparison" it's like she takes all the mush inside my head and turns it into articulate gold.

I'm rarely a simp for novellas, but Ali did it right with the years of backstory and intentionally making it the start of a relationship (that could be happily ever after) and not a drop my whole life after a first kiss.

I saw Chandler Ainsley compared it to Love On The Brain (one of my FAVORITE AH books, and arguably the most underrated).  And I think LOTB was like TLH but improved and this further improved those tropes.

Yes it's Ali Hazelwood so he's big and hulky and athletic and she's a petite and clumsy carbivore. Yes they're both dorks.  And while this has the sapiosexual themes of all Ali's books, it leans more heavily on the demi-sexuality of her main character which I missed.

I just like that she can write books that are hot with heart.

Cynthia Erivo read me a short story and I'm a happy girl.

This is another book in my journey of live, laugh, toaster bath.

tbh I'm going to have to wikipedia this later. parts of it I really appreciated and parts I felt sail straight over my head.  I was surprised how much it reminded me of Mexican Gothic.  I wonder if I'd read this in school if I would have had a greater appreciation for that book.

The Tessa Bailey version of soaking.

I didn't like it. Like it was bad. But I didn't hate it either. The conflict is so manufactured it's infuriating. Thank Gods I listened to it and didn't read it.  It's by far the weakest of the trilogy.

To be a woman

Continuing on my live, laugh, toaster bath journey

I’m amazed how authors can create a “simple” story structures and thoroughly incorporate so many themes

I don't want to give this a bad rating, but I just have very ambivalent feelings toward this book and the characters.  At no point was I invested or interested in the story.  It wasn't bad; I just didn't care?

I think lovers of An Ember in the Ashes may like this book.

I will not be continuing with the series.

I continue with this series even though I don't like it? Cheesy corny stupid "mafia romance" but I can't stop.

gang gang

(I may have slept through a little of this on a plane but that didn't bother me)