Source: Library

Recent Reads | Change of Plans and Dolly All the Time

Posted June 10, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

It’s well-documented on here how much I love Sarah Dessen. I’ve been reading her books since I was a teenager and was really disappointed when we didn’t get another book after her last release in 2019. I started reading her Substack and was surprised to learn of her publishing struggles after such a storied career. Nonetheless, I absolutely preoredered CHANGE OF PLANS when it was announced and read it right away. This story follows the tried-and-true Dessen formula, and I am not mad about it at all. Finley graduated from high school and is ready to head to college with her longtime boyfriend Colin. When she unexpectedly ends up at her mom’s lake house that summer and her relationship ends, she’s reeling from all the ~changes in plans.~ Does this remind me of old school Dessen and give me the same summery feelings? Yes. Does it lack the depth and oomph you get from most of her older books? Also yes. But I think Dessen is honestly stretching her writing muscle again and upcoming books may get back to what we’re used to? This was like her old stuff but faded a little bit lol. I enjoyed the premise a lot but wanted more from the characters and setting. It was almost like each person and plot point needed to be turned up a few notches on the dial, if that makes sense. A bit more punchiness and feels? I would definitely recommend this in general for Dessen fans but […]

Recent Reads | The Night We Met and Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line

Posted April 13, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve read every single Abby Jimenez book before its publication date (thank you to Forever Romance as always!) and this was the first one where I had to actually wait until the book came out! It was a weird experience honestly but it WAS nice to enjoy the audiobook for once. The synopsis implies a love triangle and/or potential cheating, which is such a risky trope for Abby to cover… but honestly I knew she’d kill it. Larissa met Chris and Mike at a concert one night and chose Mike (instead of Chris) to bring her home. Months later, she and Mike are dating and Chris missed his opportunity. Mike asks Chris to help him out one day and bring Larissa and her mom to a surgery appointment, and a friendship blooms between them. They accidentally rescue a dog together and start a lot of buddy reads. They have a ton in common…especially compared to her and Mike. As with all books by Abby Jimenez, there are some touchy or tough subjects covered in this one. The full trigger warnings are described at the beginning of the book. In short, Larissa is barely scraping by financially and Chris is dealing with some complex grief. I really loved the chemistry development and how the “complication” or issue happened throughout the whole book. How could these two ever be together, even if Larissa and Mike broke up? Chris and Mike are childhood best friends. There wasn’t necessarily a third act breakup because […]

Mini Reviews: A Perilous Undertaking, The Plot, and Her Last Breath

Posted April 4, 2026 / Bite-Sized Reviews, Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’m not sure when I’ll finish this long ass series but I’m proud I prioritized the second book fairly quickly! I continue to enjoy Veronica and Stoker’s slow-burn (I’m assuming) romance. I don’t think I paid a ton of attention when reading (so I forgot who characters were) and the mystery was fine. The lower rating is probably due to my reading slump and lack of interest in reading much of anything, but to be fair – other books have managed to keep my attention when this one didn’t as much. Happy to move onto the next within a few months though! This was a good albeit predictable read. I did enjoy the mystery of trying to figure out what the twist in the novel-within-the-novel was going to be, but the bigger reveals toward the end were more obvious afterwards. I read like 95% of this in one day so I didn’t find it slow like other readers (though the book club deadline helped lol). My other friends in book club agreed that it was super predictable but we are all curious enough to read the sequel! I have a feeling it will follow a similar trajectory though, which would be a little annoying and possibly repetitive. Like with most Taylor Adams books, the story seems so closed off and straightforward. I kept asking myself how he was going to find twists within this plot line, or keep the book interesting. I really didn’t think it was possible but I […]

Recent Reads | Nightwatching and This Story Might Save Your Life

Posted March 26, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

This book has been on my radar for a while but I wasn’t sure what I’d think of it. Many reviews said the book starts one way and kind of turns into something else for the second half, so I was just on the fence. I saw it at the library and decided I was in the mood for it, then randomly picked it up when we got a blizzard. This book is also set during a snowstorm so I thought the vibes would be perfect. I ended up being really glad I picked this one up! The book starts with a bang – a mother is alone in her house with her two kids when she notices an intruder. They manage to hide while she figures out what to do, and realizes who the man is. I won’t say anything else that happens because yes, the book takes a bit of a turn. It was incredibly suspenseful and creepy from the jump, especially to read at night. I’m glad I didn’t have this on my Kindle to read in bed! The next part of this paragraph is generally/slightly spoiler-y but not in a way that would ruin the book: I was so frustrated in many scenes with the cops (shocker) but really enjoyed the often tense ride. There are some intentional/interesting choices by the author though. I didn’t realize until I finished that she doesn’t include names for literally any characters, I’m fairly positive – I’m assuming this was a […]

Recent Reads | Razorblade Tears and Can You Solve a Murder?

Posted February 9, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’d heard good things about Cosby’s work but for some reason I assumed he wrote horror novels. It may be the covers or the fact that so many reviews talk about violence and darkness. Either way, we decided to read this one for my mystery/thriller book club and it created a lot of great conversation! Buddy Lee and Ike are two fathers whose sons were married with a young daughter. They’re from the south and of a certain generation/upbringing so they were not supportive of their sons’ relationship with each other. When Derek and Isiah are brutally murdered, Ike and Buddy Lee pair up on a quest for vengeance and to make amends for being bad fathers. I really loved watching Ike and Buddy Lee go on this journey… and I’m not sure what that says about me, rooting for all of the chaos and murder along the way. The book brings Ike and Buddy Lee together – again not only on a quest to avenge their sons deaths and figure out what happened, but also to come to terms with their relationship. The book tackles homophobia, transphobia, and racism. I thought their character arcs were believable and powerful. It was definitely hard to read at times but hard to put down at the same time. This was so brutal but so important. I absolutely loved the ending too. While this is not ~for me~ given all the violence and darkness and male-centered plot, I will be reading all of […]

Holiday Reviews | Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon and The Christmas Keepsake

Posted December 15, 2025 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Story I was not expecting a five-star Christmas book because unfortunately it’s very rare for me, but I just adored this. The story follows Grace and Henry, two widows (widowers?) who are still freshly grieving losing their spouses but their moms push them together for a little meet cute. They become friends first and bond over holiday movies. Grace has two kids, owns a bar, and recently adopted a crazy puppy. Henry is alone, avoiding the house he owned with his late wife, and on hiatus from work. Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels Grace and Henry have various conversations by phone or in-person watching holiday movies and analyzing them. There are different sections in the books with Christmas movie names so the reader has an idea of what they’ll be discussing or what references will be made, but that was really the most Christmassy part of the movie. It was technically a part of the plot but I certainly wanted more from it. The other “issue” with the holiday feels is that this is a book heavily focused on grief – both the expected deaths from illness and the unexpected deaths from an accident/tragedy. It made for a VERY heavy read at times, which you all know is not my preference… especially for a festive book. Overall As you can tell, I adored this book. I loved Grace and Henry so much – their banter and slow-burn relationship as they realized it was okay to move forward with their lives […]

Recent Reads | Brigands & Breadknives, Mate, and The Academy

Posted November 20, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’m a huge fan of this series and Travis Baldree’s cozy fantasy writing style. I struggle with the world building and magic systems often in fantasy books, so cozy fantasy has been a great way for me to read fantasy without getting overwhelmed. So far, all of the books have been amazing. Unfortunately this one just did not hit as much as the others. I didn’t mind the fact that it had more action vs. the cozy mundane but somehow it didn’t hold my attention at all. There were too many characters and repetitive scenes along the journey that I didn’t follow. It may have been my fault because I read it at night before bed on my Kindle and would always fall asleep in the middle of a page. It took me so long to read because I was making the slowest progress ever, plus the book itself wasn’t holding my attention. I think part of the appeal for these (for me) is the audiobook, so reading an early copy maybe wasn’t the right move. I don’t know if that would have affected my enjoyment but it’s worth noting for myself in the future. I’d definitely continue to read more in this series! For my immediate reaction on socials, I debated copy/pasting my review of BRIDE as my review for MATE because I generally felt the exact same, except I liked this a little more somehow? It took me 200 pages instead of 100 to get into this. The […]

Recent Reads | The Sun Down Motel and We Are All Guilty Here

Posted October 27, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

My mystery book club picked this one out for October since it was a spooky paranormal mystery – it was a little out of my comfort zone as a result of that but I enjoyed it! I just don’t read a lot of ghost stories or paranormal mysteries. Simone St. James has been on my TBR for a long time. The book follows two timelines: there’s Viv in the early 80s and her niece Carly in 2017. Viv works the night shift at the Sun Down Motel in a time where lots of girls turn up missing or murdered in the small town of Fell, NY. Viv herself goes missing, which leads to Carly coming to town and trying to figure out what happened to her aunt. It was fairly obvious what was going on about halfway through though; there wasn’t as much suspense or twists as I tend to prefer. The ghosts were a fun aspect – I don’t want to spoil much about them but it was a welcome change from what I expected ghosts to be in a book like this, if that makes sense. The motel and small town settings were really vivid and made the book super enjoyable to read. Overall, really good for spooky season. My book club agreed this should definitely become a show or movie! We all gave it around 4 stars, with the exception of one person. My friend from book club showed up with this book, which she had just […]

Recent Reads | The Berry Pickers and Night Watcher

Posted July 14, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I bought this book on a whim (because of all the positive reviews and hype) at a book event a couple of years ago and it sat on my shelf. I was never sure literary mysteries – especially historical fiction – would be for me. I had a few major success stories with them this year and then my book club picked this for our July meeting, so it was finally time to try it… and it’s really not a mystery honestly. The book follows a Native American family as they come down to Maine from Nova Scotia to pick berries each summer. Their youngest daughter, Ruthie, goes missing one summer and they are never the same. Meanwhile, there’s another POV following Norma – a young girl growing up in Maine. It kind of sounds like a mystery of trying to find this missing girl but it’s painfully obvious what’s happening the entire book. There’s really no actual mystery – it’s more a story of how Norma and Joe (Ruthie’s brother) survive and go through struggles over the years. I really have no idea how the rest of book club will feel about this one. It has such a high rating on Goodreads but honestly I was completely underwhelmed. Yes, some of it is because I was expecting a historical literary mystery – I absolutely loved THE GOD OF THE WOODS and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK. I was hoping for something similar. Even once I realized the book […]

Recent Reads | Swept Away and Magpie Murders

Posted April 23, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve loved quite a few of O’Leary’s books but actually DNFed her last release – for whatever reason the story just wasn’t clicking for me and I haven’t felt pulled to start it again. I was really hoping to get back on track with her for this novel and I’m happy to report that happened! The story follows Zeke and Lexi as they deal with the aftermath of a one-night stand. They realize when they wake up in the morning that the houseboat they were using has somehow gotten untied and was swept out to see. They don’t have power, they’re running out of food, and – to top it all off – they literally don’t know each other at all. Obviously the premise alludes to a bit of a survival story but for some reason I didn’t realize how intense it would be! I kind of just assumed they’d get rescued in a few days but there was actually a lot of peril and accidents to deal with. Some early reviews had folks unprepared for this and it affected their enjoyment, but I still really enjoyed it. It’s just not a straightforward fluffy romance. The ending had some twists that I didn’t see coming (which makes me feel like an idiot because maybe they were obvious?). It took a little while to get on board with those reveals but I was pretty pleased by the end of the book with how everything turned out. This was a super emotional […]