Okay. I‘m out. I wanted to like this so much but I just can‘t. So many things I hate from, I‘m going to walk in the jungle at night by myself, to I don‘t want to have this reputation but I‘m going to conduct myself in a way that perpetuates this reputation in front of people I barely know. 🙄 And what kind of person brings a vibrator, and fancy underwear (in case there‘s a night out) to an archeological dig but no batteries or condoms? Ugh.

I was a little disappointed by this one. I was really looking forward to it, but felt like the relationships were a little contrived. Also, I was a little bored by the male leads. Not sure if I‘m going to finish the series. Should I?

A fun read! Made me literally LOL more than once.

I don‘t know why I have such a hard time with most of her books. This one took me a while to get through and I can‘t say exactly why!

This was a first for me. I spent more time feeling sorry for the male protagonist, hoping he would get out of the relationship. I felt Liyah held all the emotional cards and Daniel was always the one walking on eggshells waiting for her to toss him crumbs of affection. And the issues that seemed major to me were glossed over while we spent a lot of time on things that didn‘t matter much. It wasn‘t a terrible read, but it wasn‘t satisfying either.

Books I added to my TBR solely because of the cover and without reading any part of the synopsis. 😍

I feel this remark.

I had to stop after 3 chapters. It‘s a modern version of Hades & Persephone, but she‘s just too dumb for me. She‘s made so many poor, unjustified decisions and I‘m only on chapter 3! Life‘s too short, bruh. #dnf

Apparently I got the audiobook ARC….🤭😄

Oh my! I just loved this book! It‘s sort of a Cinderella reimagining, that I didn‘t realize until just now. It‘s romantic and sexy and funny and heartbreaking all at once. Definitely recommend.

I‘m a little blown away by how much I liked this! I mean, I hate the main character and find nothing redeeming about her AND we spend A LOT of time in her head. It‘s dark and funny and full of microaggressions, self-delusion and green-eyed jealousy. I devoured it.

Picked this up on Saturday at the Love Ya‘ll Book Fest here in Atlanta. I adored Seressia Glass‘ The Love Con and this one was even better! I loved how the relationship grew between the leads and how they tempered their growing attraction with their love and respect for the work they were doing. We also have two neurodivergent characters and we get to see how our female character interacts with them.

It was interesting but didn‘t exactly go in the direction I wanted it to go. Still, a good read about a part of American history that is never mentioned in school.

This book. OMG. So good. The magical world is layered so seamlessly over our current world and the characters deal with all the stupid crap we deal with today in spite of their abilities. But it‘s also a story about becoming and how that can be a painful process. It‘s a world of sirens, gargoyles, elokos (that last one I had to look up!) I can‘t recommend this one enough.

I‘m so confused by this book. For the first half I thought it was contemporary, then I realized they were talking about traveling by horse and using lanterns. But the language is contemporary. And there are random things thrown in that will give you a headache if you need context. I read it because…cute cover, funny title and 5 ⭐️ Goodreads reviews. But then “lemon meringue”, “porcelain doll” and other cliches messed up my timeline.

My last 4 books of 2023 were….underwhelming. I wanted something light, fun and maybe a little magic thrown in for good measure. What I got were books that were too long and filled with extraneous googah, too much sex with too little chemistry. Bottom line is there were HUGE swaths of books where I was just bored. I did finish all but Mr Malcom‘s List, so there‘s that. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Hi! We‘re hosting a book talk for New Years on an app called WhatNot. Usually people sell things (like books) but tonight we‘re just talking about our favorite reads of 2023. It‘s a casual hang and I thought maybe you‘d like to join. It‘ll be under the name Posh_Salad. HAPPY 2024!!!

This was “meh” for me. Very predictable. The fun part was the beginning of each chapter that talked about fairy bargains and lore.

Okay. Everyone seems to like this so I‘ll stick with it. I‘m halfway through and I‘m a little bored. Since it was described as Firefly meets Breakfast Club, I was expecting a lot more adventure. It‘s heavy on romantic relationships which are sometimes a little tedious.

First things first. On the cover they‘re flying on a broom. That does not happen in the book at all, so don‘t get your hopes up. 😁

It was okay. A little boring once the couple got together. I did like the talking cat though. Maybe he‘ll get his own book?

I‘m not 100% enjoying this book. The main characters are book lovers in different countries who meet on a dating site. The interference of a meddling cousin (whom I LOATHE) who keeps setting her cousin up with inappropriate men. Who does that? The story is also set today, but reads like a much older book. Like the 80s maybe? Everyone is supposedly in their 30s or younger but well versed in classic lit, old b&w movies and letter writing. 🙄

Well that was just a frigging delightful read! 😍

Was very confused by this. The cover shows a dark-skinned African-American woman, right? Between this being narrated by a Caucasian woman and more on the cover than in the book about any indication about race/culture and this being a professor/student romance, I was very confused. Add some mispronounced words and odd breaks, or no breaks and this is not a great listen. It seems like a project in creative writing class, not a published work.

2nd book in the series. Aside from the crazy repetition of the narrator‘s ”imperious look”, this was a fun, quick read. It was my first read for APIDA month. Looking forward to the next 4 titles.

Well that was fun! Spy family? ✔️ Latine protagonist? ✔️ Battling racism? ✔️ Making friends? ✔️ Undercover espionage? ✔️

Loved this title! So much fun!

I couldn‘t finish even though I‘m almost to the end. It‘s a lot of “this terrible secret” and jumping to conclusions with way too much lack of communication. The male protag has an all-consuming problem that only shows up at the very end. The terrible secrets are really not that terrible. The final straw was NOT telling the love interest the bad guy was stalking her even though he‘d made direct contact. 🙄🤦🏾‍♀️

Okay. The audiobook was terrible. I don‘t know who chose the narrator, but clearly she was NOT into this story. She literally put me to sleep. I returned that copy and picked up the paperback. Muuuuuuch better!!!
I liked the characters and how they interacted with each other. The story premise was fun and new. Looking forward to more from this author!

Such a cliffhanger! On to book 2!

I enjoyed this far more than Tessa‘s story. I related more to Lenore on a much deeper level, from getting beyond family expectations for your education to getting out of your own way to find happiness.

Okay, I liked the book. The problem was it was a lot. I had to keep going back and re-reading because I forgot who, what or how things mentioned earlier in the story. There was a lot of, “wait! Who is that again?” during my read.

That being said, I did love the world, the concept and the characters. It‘s a good foray into the Afro-futurism genre.

I read this on the recommendation of a fan of the books. It wasn‘t bad. It‘s very well written - but it just wasn‘t my kind of story. I get why my friend likes it so much. I think I just didn‘t feel enough for the hero and I‘m not a fan of the time period. I‘m gonna put it as a pick because I still finished the book and recognize the quality of storytelling.

This is not my favorite kind of story (fake engagement) but I really ended up enjoying this book. A good summer read.

I couldn‘t finish it. There‘s A LOT of dialogue but everyone speaks in a similar language and cadence. And the dialogue isn‘t that enthralling. The fantasy/magic part is what intrigued me to read the book, but it‘s talked about more than shown to us. When we finally get a picture it‘s not that captivating. Had to bail on this one.

A giant buttload of fun. Highly recommend the audiobook.

By far my favorite of the Smartypants romance books. Even though a majority of the book doesn‘t take place in Green Valley, it seems very connected to the fictional town. And maybe because this takes place in the late 70s at an HBCU is why I felt such a kinship to the characters. I hope there‘s another book with the characters as they get older. 😍

So…I was really interested in The Russian‘s story from his mentions in the previous books. But reading the premise and finding out he was already married sort of made me…less interested. But then I dug in and, well, it‘s my favorite. Isn‘t it funny when that happens?

Side note - I need a book with the Cheese Man because cheese is my favorite food group. 🧀🤣

I‘d bought this for my cousin‘s daughter last Christmas and decided to give it read myself. It is really good!

Amari‘s brother Quentin is missing and she just got expelled from school. A new summer “leadership” program provides an entry to a surprising supernatural world. Amari must find her place in it.

It‘s a middle grade book - probably a little too advanced for an 8 yr old? 🤷🏾‍♀️ But it‘s still a good read-aloud story.

Note to self: stop reading books about books. Your TBR list is long enough. 🤪

I almost always have to read Jasper Fforde‘s books twice because there‘s so much info packed inside. This one is the 6th of 7 and it‘s fun and funny and good Lord, the Toast Board? 😂😂😂 I‘m putting off reading the last one for a bit because I‘ll miss Thursday and I don‘t want the series to end.

I‘ve been reading mostly romance and fun YA for the last 6 months in an attempt to “keep my spirits up” and not have to double down on meds because of, well, life. Didn‘t even finish the first chapter before the tears. This may not be the book for me right now unless someone tells me otherwise.

This is a young, young adult book. I don‘t even know what you call these - the protagonist is 13 yr old Sweet Pea, a 7th grade girl with newly divorced parents living 2 houses from each other.
It‘s a good read and one I would have definitely enjoyed as a young, young adult (pre-YA?).

Well that was fun! I don‘t normally like regencies too much - so manner manners! But this was a truly delightful read. I liked the characters and the funny situations they got into. Be warned though - lots of sexy time! Which is not something I‘m used to in a regency. Is it the norm now?

I liked this one better than the first.

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

1. No

2. IG is directly connected to my business so I‘m on there a lot.

3. Good storytellers!

Almost finished with this one….

This started out interesting but got less so about halfway through. It‘s awfully predictable and that takes away the fun.

Well that was a lot of fun! Thanks @MaggieCarr for the rec! Off to read the rest of the series!

I couldn‘t finish this. The whole premise is every guy only likes skinny women. The inner dialogue of the main character suggests she needs some counseling more than she needs a boyfriend. 🤷🏾‍♀️