3.5 - Audiobook: welp this book broke my streak of not crying while reading which I held off for 7 years. This was a beautiful book about a dog and her octopus (tumor/cancer). The parts of the book that I liked was the stories about the dog and Ted’s life. I did get lost during the magic realism of it all. But at its core, this book was about love and loss. And we would do anything for those we love.

Audiobook: I am not sure if I just was distracted a lot with listening while working but this was hard for me to follow some of the time. I got the gist of the story but perhaps via audiobook there were too many characters. I also just love how characters seem to try to solve mysteries all the time in the books I read. This one was okay. Not my favorite listen/read. I still enjoyed it and still wanted to know who was the murderer.

I was fortunate to get an ARC of “Out of Character” by Annabeth Albert.

This book was such a delight! I was not familiar with this series or author but I definitely would like to go back and read the first book.

The story starts off with Jasper, a senior in college, who was working at a card store when Milo, former best friend turned enemy, comes barreling into the store in need of help. He had lost a bet and sold very rare and expensive cars set.

Jasper was hesitant to help Milo as Milo and his so called friends did not make life easy for him in high school. But Jasper can’t not help someone. Over the course of weeks and a trip to Philly to win some of card back - feelings began to surface. Jasper has always been out but Milo, has known he was gay for awhile but has never explored. Milo also lived with those high school friends who were not good people and made him miserable.

From there, the chemistry was undeniable even when Jasper didn’t fully allow himself to be open to Milo. He didn’t want to his experiment or chance that he’d break his heart. But after time Milo built that trust and worked on not caring what others around him thought.

I don’t want to say much more about their quest to finding the cards, Milo changing his life & coming and their future together. But if you are looking for a cute, male/male romance with cosplay & an adventure, this is the book for you!!!

Audiobook: I really loved the inflection this narrator delivered in this book. I thought he played Henry so well! This book had heart and action all rolled into one. I would even say it could be a YA version of Song of Achilles.

This book. My goodness.

I was fortunate to get an ARC of “All the Feels” by Olivia Dade courtesy of Netgalley. This book comes out on October 26, 2021!

Wowowow! This was a slow burn, friends to lover romance. I had never read an Olivia Dade book but I had wanted to and even have “Spoiler Alert” on my shelf (which I will be reading next).

With that being said, “All the Feels” begins with actor Alex Woodroe gets into a fight while in Spain & has been causing issues lately so his producer gets his cousin Lauren Clegg to be his “babysitter”. She is to follow him everywhere and make sure he does not act reckless.

Alex felt very protective of Lauren the longer he was around her. And wasn’t always the best at handle his anger towards any rude commenters. Controlling his rage in general was hard for him. There was a moment where it all came to head and Lauren’s services were no longer needed. But Alex realizes he needed Lauren in his life as more than an employee.

And from there, this book really took off. Alex planned for Lauren to accompanied him on a road trip to his ex’s wedding up the coast of California. During this trip, I will tell you, Lauren’s character really came to life. She was merely so quiet and reserved putting Alex in his place but during this trip, she was bubbly and had more comebacks.

I don’t want to say too much about the road trip and everything else that happened after their trip but I myself fell for Alex Woodroe. And the end made my heart so incredibly happy.

A quote that I loved from Lauren was “I’m not ashamed of my body. It may not be conventionally beautiful, but it’s strong. It’s mine.” As a plus size woman, size representation especially in romance has meant so much to me. So thank you Olivia!!

Audiobook: This book started off really strong but then about halfway, it was starting to lose me. I felt that I was told what happened and it was wrapped up. I think the cat and mouse game went on a little longer than it needed to. The last 15 minutes of the book were probably the best. I do not want to give spoilers but b*tches be crazy.

3.5 - Audiobook: This book was really cute! Two teens, one is trans and other is a closeted gay begin to have feeling for one another while being teammates on the soccer team. While on the team he learns that he can not play as his gender on his birth certificate did not match everything else. This book has a little romance, social change, soccer & being a high schooler. The more LGTBIQ YA books I read, the more I wish I had these when I was teen to help educate myself.

Wowowowow! This book took me on a ride. I felt the pain for Jonah and it broke my heart. There was so much in this book - sex, rape, bdsm, religion, redemption, failure & death. It was really eye opening and the sad reality that this potential has happened in real life to so many young men.

Favorite quote: Exhausted by the endless chore of maintaining the wall between me and the rest of the world

Living is just so exhausting some days.

I was asked by Dutton Books & Net Galley to do an honest review of a new book from author Jeffrey Kluger called “Holdout” which comes out on August 3rd.

I’ll be honest this made me nervous because Sci-Fi is totally not a genre I gravitate towards.

The book starts off with two different perspectives. We have Walli Beckwith who is an astronaut and is in space. While attempting a mission between two shuttles, things did not go well & two cosmonauts end up leaving, one with a serious injury. Walli went against everyone and stayed put on the space station.

We are then also taken to South America and are introduced to Sonia who is a recent graduate from Baylor College and was interning for Health on Wings in the Amazon. One night a wildfire broke out and began destroying the tribes that were living there. She took in a young boy named Oli’s whose family died in these fires.

Walli can see the fires from space and advised that she would stay in there until the government would stop the fires. Turns out that Sonia is Walli’s niece so she had a personal connection in to making sure those wildfires stop.

There were parts that I like but there was just too much politics and not enough sci fiction for me. And since sci-fi is not my usually genre, I was hoping to get a better sense of the genre. But by the end, I was just ready for it to be over. I think it might have been about 50 pages too long. If this would end up being adapted for screen, it could possibly be better.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this early - thank you Penguin, Dutton & Net Galley.

Audiobook: This was just not for me. I do not if it was because it was so long or if it was because it is fantasy. It just didn’t connect the way I thought it would.