“Aloneness” is not a word, but Stacy uses it almost every page. And this one needed a tighter content edit - there are many misplaced modifiers and repetitive sentences/scenes as well as some subject/verb agreement problems and odd sentence construction that a good edit could fix.

 IDK but reading about a woman who poses as a man because her mom needed to provide an heir for her dad and who has kept up this ruse for 23 years THROUGH COLLEGE while also very much being a woman to be found out by a man who had to literally spend a decade with a wolf pack from (checks notes) her SMELL, is just oddly icky to me.

What a spicy lil masquerade ball! 🥵🥵🥵 Oops I caught feelings x2. Katherine can step on me. Preston was a first-class knob, but he wins  points for excellent bedroom skills and (finally) supporting Katherine. Could have used 25% more groveling. Preston didn’t suffer enough for me.

Your BFF leaves you stranded with your one-time high school crush, oh wait, turns out it wasn’t as one sided as you thought.

Snowed in with said crush after a very passionate bus stop make out

“Jock” and “nerd” 

So sweet and very spicy

Not quite as hilariously sparkling as Mistlefoe, but still a good time. Cinnamon inadvertently saves a demon from possession by a witch and goes on to save a  bunch of other demons and people, too.

This is book one of three novellas all set in the same queer karaoke bar, and Anita brings their unique talent for making everyday people seem so real and emphasizing the importance of love in our lives - how common it is, yet how special. 

One thing that stands out to me in all of Anita's books is how the characters are regular working-class folks with bills to pay and modest but important lives. I love it so much. It shouldn't be so rare in romance but it is! 

Sam and Lily are so sweet together. They make an incredible amount of space for each other and there is a gift from Lily to Sam at one point that had me like 

Also I absolutely adore karaoke so reading these meet cutes at the karaoke bar is really doing it for me.

I am very late to the Cemetery Boys fan club, but I’m so glad I finally made it! This story had a ton of my favorite things and took me through a classic YA coming-of-age story through a less common lens. Yadriel’s journey to prove himself to his community and family while also doing a Big ThingTM was so exciting but also had an incredible amount of emotional depth.

The thing about this book for me is that solving the mystery of who killed Julian and Miguel was not the main event…I was reading for the emotional and personal growth journeys for the characters and OH BOY DID THIS BOOK DELIVER. 

A short list:

Julian, Julian, Julian. This kid is so real. He’s gritty and larger than life and emotionally deep and kind. I could not get enough of his big heart and sweet nature despite the hurdles his life threw at him. In a word: fierce.

Yadriel. YADRIEL!! There were so many small moments with Yadriel and his family that broke my heart but also felt like a huge hug. I adored the moments with Yadriel and his (large) family, especially his father. Thomas provided an incredibly nuanced and touching window into Yadriel’s life with its good and bad all mixed together while also giving us a ton of plot action. Yadriel is now one of my all-time favorite YA main characters.

Maritza. Okay, everyone needs a Maritza in their life and I’m so glad Yadriel had her. She’s an incredible bestie. She’s basically the definition of ride-or-die. I’m going to need Aiden to write like four to five spin off books and Martiza needs to be the MC in the first one. 

Julian’s friends. I LOVE found family and this one is top-notch. Also, these kids activated my Mom Mode in a big way. I really wanted to feed them a good meal, give them a warm safe place to sleep and make sure they got to school. On the other hand, I adored how they found and cared for each other with what they had, showing that we can (and should) take care of each other.

This story underscored the importance of the #TransRightsReadathon and other movements to make sure that organizations that help traditionally marginalized communities are well-funded. Additionally, the readathon is a way for those of us outside of the community to understand the depth of the issues trans youth are facing. If you’re reading for the readathon this week, I challenge you to take a moment and try to internalize the things you’re learning about. What can you do as an individual to help? What level of understanding did the books you read provide you and how can you update your thinking or actions to reflect that new point of view? How can you scale your impact to make sure the things you learn don’t stay in your own brain?