Best. Opening. Paragraph. Ever. I love it! 😹

“Calla was wearing the wrong bra. This sort of confrontation called for her sports bra, the one with the six non-nonsense hooks anchoring her down and all the sex appeal of old goulash. Instead, she was in her limpest bra, the one with the missing underwire, making her right breast pop over the cup like a gopher.”

My library literally just barely put the contact paper on when I checked this out!🫶🏼

Had to DNF, sadly. The set up seems great and the couple seems like a great match. I love the characters so far. But everytime Harmony is working her grift, being in her head and seeing the mechanics of her manipulations (even against people who deserve it) is too much for me. I would definitely watch the movie if there ever is one, but reading this isn‘t working for me.

What a sweet slice of life, depicting a mother watching her son work through the intricacies of figuring out his identity. She doesn‘t push or pull or try to direct him one way or another. Even though it seems pretty clear where he‘ll end up. She just sets up a welcoming place for him to land when he gets there. I LOVED it! 🥰

What a wild ride! Now I understand why people are so hesitant to give any details beyond what‘s in the summary. Don‘t want to give any spoilers, so my take is - if you like weird girl fiction, or think you might, just start reading and let it happen! The journey is what it‘s all about, but the destination won‘t disappoint.

Full of puns, drama, and warmth.

This was a lovely return to the San Andreas Shifters. I laughed and cried and smiled the whole way through. The romance was beautifully balanced on the double edged blade of sweetness and tension. Trick was delightful throughout. Sato was brooding and full of longing. And my heart ached for them and cheered for them beginning to end. Then their story is wrapped in the best community you could hope for. I loved it!

Loved the way this was packaged! Can‘t wait to read it!

This one made me laugh and cry and I loved every minute of it! When Imogen goes to visit her newly out bestie, Lili, in college, she finds out that Lili‘s told all her new college friends a little white lie. That Imogen and Lili are ex‘s turned BFFs… So she pretends to be bi to support Lili. But as she gets to know Lili‘s newest bestie, Tessa, she starts to suspect that being bi might not be such a lie. Because she‘s falling for her.

#9inmytop10

Vietnamese-American teen, Jade, is spending a sweltering summer with her estranged father. In exchange for college funds, she‘s helping him turn a crumbling French Colonial house into a B&B. Caught between world & cultures, on the cusp of adulthood, Jade is faced with gruesome ghosts, creepy-crawlies, strange noises, sleep paralysis, & an ominous warning: “Don‘t eat.”

#10inmytop10

I was always so disappointed in how male dominated the werewolf sub-genre of Horror was. Women just make so much sense as werewolves! Rachel Harrison delivered everything I was hoping for with this book - body horror, social commentary, metaphors for the female experience, and tied it all up in a rom-com bow. I absolutely loved it!

#8inmytop10!

An unhinged Thriller I enjoyed immensely. (And it‘s rare for me to like a Thriller.) A rich & famous writer holds a Willy Wonka-esque writing retreat at her secluded mountain mansion. They get snowed in. Murder, mayhem, & malicious plots ensue. Honorable mention for my Top Ten Reads of 2023!

This M|M Romance set in the late 1950s is made for Newsies fans who grew up shipping Jack & David. An unrequited love is finally requited!
- Grumpy x Sunshine
- Hurt/Comfort
- Friends to Lovers
- Late in Life Bisexual Awakening
All the heart eyes emojis! Honorable mention for my Top Ten Reads of 2023!

A grim cozy Fantasy Western reimagining of You‘ve Got Mail. Grumpy x Sunshine Romantasy. Honorable mention for my Top Ten Reads of 2023!

I lost track of how many times I LOLd and forced my roommate to let me tell her what was so funny! Sweet and to the point, this is the opposite of the misunderstanding-that-could've-been-avoied-with-a-simple-conversation trope, and it still manages all of the tension! Plus, there are kittens! You should absolutely read this for the holidays!

And here some other short holiday read to bring you some cheer and maybe help you get that Goodreads goal!

#NoShameReadathon23 @Nessavamusic
Got a bingo! Really thought I had done more of the challenges on this board, but then I realized that some of the books I was thinking of were read last year! 😂

Dug up this old historical western romance and I had every intention of listing it on PangoBooks but as I was reading the back to jog my memory enough to get some trope tags, I remembered how bananas this one was and now it‘s on the reread TBR 😅

I love the #given anime and now I‘m taking my time reading the manga. There‘s no other way to describe this, but sweet and sad. The story starts out so quiet but fun and then as it‘s settling into a sweet storyline, the sadness that was always there, in the quiet, just wells up, & grips you by the heart. It‘s an achingly sweet journey through grief, friendship, love, and a shared passion for music.

CWs in comments.

Just found out that Julie Garwood recently passed. And it broke my heart. Gifted to me by my grandmother with a stern, “You know to skip certain scenes, right?”, this was my first Garwood and continues to be my favorite. She installed so many of my Romance buttons! Hulking men who loose their hearts on sight, unstoppable women who get in all the trouble, and fierce female friendships for the ages. You‘re already hugely missed Julie!

Just got my physical copy of Finna and it‘s definitely tempting to take it for a reread spin!

A surprisingly (for how short this book was) layered sci-fi adventure with touches of horror and romantic possibilities. Reminiscent of Grady Hendrix‘s Horrorstore, but lighter and with more swashbuckling. Having to work on your day off is bad enough, but when an elderly customer gets lost in a wormhole, Ava gets to add interdimensional travel, on foot, with her ex, to the suckage. Things can only go up from there, right?

This Gothic Horror, set in Vietnam, centers Jade Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American girl on the cusp of adulthood. She‘s stuck between worlds on more than one level, and now she‘s being haunted by multiple ghosts. One, obviously malicious, another, baring an ominous warning, “Don‘t eat.”

As haunting as the title promises, this ghost story is a great book to kick off Summer with!

Welcome to my #Manga era. 😅 I‘ve resisted for years, decades, really. Because, I knew it would be such an expensive hobby. But I just couldn‘t resist any longer. 📚 I‘ve already picked up several series or parts of series. And they are giving me all the joy! I read the first three #SpyXFamily volumes and it‘s just so cute! 🥰 I feel like graphic novels and manga are a great way to switch up my reading pace and help me to avoid the dreaded #Slump

Thoroughly disturbing, this is a great horror read! T. Kingfisher does a great job of infusing Poe‘s classic, “The House of Usher,” with new life and perspective. This gothic horror was a fantastic short read that will stay with me.

This Must Be Enough

most of the time
everything I do

is simply an attempt
to resent myself

more gently

and to cherish
myself more

violently.

This story and these characters, are everything and more than I‘d hope they‘d be. Addressing so many current issues in a natural way that ring true to the story being told. I could write a ten page essay about this book. This was an instant classic for me and I want to assign this book to every person on earth as required reading. Felix is complicated, real, flawed, evolving. A force and a delight. And on my 3rd read through, it still holds up!

#WonderousWednesday @Eggs
💗 Kindness, Appreciation, Balance, Dependability, & Accountability.
🌺 Humor, Intelligence, & Respect for others.

Time to snuggle up with some yummy snacks, a cup of purple butterfly pea flower tea, and my first book buy of the year! I LOVE Talia Hibbert and I am diving right into her debut YA romance! The excitement is so very real!

Finally got the chance to visit the new indie bookstore up North for the first time yesterday! This queer centric bookstore was full of all the queer books and swag I could hope for! It was so much fun and I was excited to finally get my hands on Bingo Love. I‘m behind by many years on this one I might kick the new year off with it! I also snagged a physical copy of Black Sun. I‘ve already read and loved it, but I still needed it for my shelves!

Diving into Holiday reads early this year! Was a much better book than I was expecting! There may have been tears at one point and I definitely laughed out loud a few times. I will definitely be continuing my read of this series!

I enjoyed this YA #Slasher #Horror well enough. I can see why people are loving this, but personally, I didn‘t connect with any of the characters. Maybe I‘m too old to connect with the teens? Maybe I don‘t hate teens enough to connect with the baddies? IDK, but this was a so-so read for me. There was only one moment that had me cheering. Though bloody, the chill factor is low. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Maybe slashers just aren‘t the horror sub genre for me? #NSR22

Every Fall, when I feel that first icy bite of the winter to come, I can‘t help but fall back into this comfort read. I loved getting to read the newest Sarah Addison Allen book, Other Birds. There were elements that called back to this book. But, I managed to hold off my reread until now, and it was as wonderful as I remember it being. A perfect read for this time of year!

@Nessavamusic just posted her Bingo board for next year's #NoShameReadathon23 I'm digging the new Bingo board format. I can't wait to start adding covers to this graphic! #NSR23 is a reading challenge celebrating genre fiction. This is a great way to explore the genres. Join in! Each bingo equals an entry for an end of year drawing for a big prize box in December and a black out gets you 5 additional entries. I can't wait to see everyone's TBRs!

This was a fun new take on vampires, definitely a cozy, let‘s read books together, sexy vamps romance. I‘m interested in seeing where the overarching story is going. It looks like we are following the same couple in the next one - though this could stand alone if you wanted to stop at one. It‘s giving me, KJ Charles‘ “The Will Darling Adventures,” vibes. But more cozy and less suspicious of their partner‘s motivations.

I love this book! It really helps break things down to manageable parts and keep the overall narrative in perspective! Tonight I‘m working on my Romancing the Beats Scrivener beat sheet between trick or treaters in preparation for #NaNoWriMo‘s kick off! And CleoCatra is “helping” me, lol. I had planned on reading some ghost stories, but the last minute panic of zero prep has kicked in! 😹

“Being haunted was seeing history.”
- Sideways Pike
The Scratch Daughters (Scapegracers #2)
H.A. Clarke

@Avanders Thank you so much! You went above and beyond! The wrapping paper was so pretty and I love the tissue paper. I was so surprised to see four books instead of two! I‘m so excited to read each of these books! They all look so good! I know what I‘ll be reading between trick-or-treaters!
@MaleficentBookDragon thanks so much for hosting #AllHallowsReadSwap #AHRS

1. The movie, Don‘t Be Afraid of the Dark, with Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce, definitely freaked me out. All those nasty little dark faeries scuttling around…stabbing people…eating their teeth…

2. The Hob‘s Bargain by Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite books with magic.

3. Orange 🧡🧡🧡

Wanna play @Nessavamusic ?

#NSR22 #NoShameReadathon22
Set in a darkly magical world, full of monsterous terrors. People send their children to the hungry halls of the Scholomance only a fraction of them will return from. But some survivors are better than none. Naomi Novik kept me guessing at where this was all going from book to book and delivered a fantastic conclusion to this #Fantasy trilogy! I loved this engrossing juxtaposition of #Grimdark horror and grudging hope.

Sent my swap yesterday! And snagged some nifty marine stamps while I was at it! The package should be arriving Friday!!!
#AllHallowsReadSwap #AHRS

I picked up these Christopher Pike novels at a library sale years ago because I remembered loving his books when I was in Jr. High! I‘ve let them languish on my TBR shelves, but now that there‘s an adaptation of The Midnight Club, I might finally read them! But I‘ll probably watch the show first, lol.

#AllHallowsReadSwap #BookOfTheMonth
I had an exhausting trip out of town but came home to #BookMail! I got my #AHRS swap box, the books for the swap box I‘m sending, & the other was my #BoTM! I picked Sign Here because it was rec‘d on my fave horror book podcast, Books in the Freezer. As for the rest - I‘ll be shipping off my swap box tomorrow! I can‘t wait to open my box! Thanks @Avanders 😆 you‘re very on the ball! Now to wait in suspense! 🎃

This is the first high fantasy in a long time that I‘ve been able to read all the way through. The plot, characters, and pacing all weave together in a way that had me racing through the chapters to figure out where it was all leading. Definitely a 5 ⭐️ read! I can‘t wait to read the next book in the series!
#NSR22 #HighFantasy #NoShameReadathon22

#NSR22
I loved this #CozyMystery! It was a great balance of plot and character development. The mix of small town murder, charming characters, and mouth watering foodie moments is just right. I'm a life long mystery lover, but I haven't really enjoyed the genre in recent years, (definitely a me problem, lol) but I really got into this one. Also - I am definitely going to be trying the recipies in the back of the book! The excitement is real!

🎃My copy of @roanparrish ‘s newest book came in the mail 📦today!!! I‘m so excited to read this one!!! 📚 I nabbed the 2.5 novella on e too 🥰 Yay for release day delivery! #BookMailIsBestMail these will both definitely be next up on my TBR!

#NSR22 #DarkRomance @Nessavamusic
Shockingly good. One of my favorite reads of the year even! This Serial Killer x FBI profiler romance is more than I ever expected! Especially since it‘s only novella length, ST Abby (fantastic pun btw) did an expert job layering information and character building into the details as this story moved along. While Dark romance isn‘t really my thing, I‘ll definitely have to read the rest of this particular series!

The #AllHallowsReadSwap is still available to join until the 13th! I‘m so glad I was able to get in before the deadline!

You will be sending THREE Items-
1 BOOK From Your Recipient's Wish List, Some Halloween Candy, AND 1 scary book you recommend to them.

We open on Oct. 30th so packages need to be sent by Oct. 15th

Sign up here - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZhCMivmtTcmJOnO7eTiIc7oBwjprI2HRxBc0P...

#NSR22 #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy
Literally read this in a 24hr period. I loved all of it and will probably read it again before the end of the year. Since this is the 13th book in the series it‘s difficult to talk about in a non-spoiler way. But if you‘re looking for a gateway book into autumnal feels this year, this would be a great way to kick off the pumpkin spice season!

#LittlePumpkin 🎃😂 #IYKYK

#NSR22 #SciFi #SpaceOpera
A “Why Choose” “Jane Austen in Space”, this is the first part of a longer story (1 of 3 - I think.) So we end on an HFN rather than an HEA. The female MC feels a bit more removed and distant than I prefer and the space portion of this space opera is a bit light, but I feel like both of those things might change as the books progress? Either way, I feel lukewarm about this one and might or might not read further. 🤷🏽‍♀️

It‘s kinda shocking how much Willow Scarlett was able to pack into so few pages! This quick burn enemies to lovers was done right! Two very different people with very different ideals find common ground while burning up the sheets! The POV MC was kind of a difficult pill for me at first, but he grew and changed to something truer to himself and that was part of the joy of this book! The other MC is a firecracker and I couldn‘t get enough of him!

I‘m having mixed feelings about the end. I‘m definitely leaning toward positive feelings. But I think I need to reread this one down the line to sort those feelings. Ultimately, here‘s what I came away with:

*This book made me laugh a lot.
*It made me smile even more
*And it left me thinking.

Any more details than that feel like spoilers. And if you want those spoiler details, I‘m happy to chat about them in the comments with spoiler settings.

This book is so sweet I couldn‘t put it down! I ended up reading it til 3 AM on a work night! The sweetness of their friendship & the tension of their attraction is an addictive combination. And the HEA is so complete and satisfying. Definitely recommend.