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Book 1,019: The West – Naoíse Mac Sweeney

Book cover of "The West" with Amazon Affiliate linkThis was a fascinating read. Mac Sweeney takes what you think you know about “Western Civilization” and attempts to flip it on its head via fourteen mini-biographies about historical figures, only a few of which I knew immediately.

I feel horrible it’s taken me this long to push my response out. The publisher reached out in January 2023. I blew past the publication date in May 2023, and finally read it in December 2023. So, I’m hanging my head, because it’s now taken me another month and a half to actually publish my response.

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Book 856: The Last Chance Library – Freya Sampson

Book cover of "The Last Chance Library" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhen I saw the title of this one, it was a no brainer I was going to request a copy of it from the publisher.* I’m sure I read the blurb and thought it was a great premise, but by time I got around to reading it (months after I was approved) I had forgotten the premise of the novel.

The Last Chance Library is the story of June Jones. It’s ostensibly the story of her trying to save her local library which is threatened with closing because of council cuts, but it’s really the story of her finally getting over her mother’s death and the processing of the grief, while finding a community. There were also SOOO many books mentioned (I think I got them all in my list at the end of my post).

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Book 849: One Trick Pony (Clyde’s Corner #3) – Eli Easton

Book Cover of "One Trick Pony" with Amazon Affiliate linkNow, a novella and a book later, I’m able to read and write about the book that drew me into wanting to read the series 😀 I first saw this one come into my inbox from Gay Romance Reviews, but ended up not requesting it because Kindle Unlimited is a gem and I figured I would be able to get to it in my own time. Well that time happened sooner than expected and here we are.

The blurb of this one drew me in with bad-boy Henry from A Prairie Dog’s Love Song having cleaned up his act and started working for Joshua and Ben on the ranch and his awkward interactions with Ben’s friend and former gay-for-pay (but actually gay) porn coworker Micah. I mean come on how was I NOT going to read this one?

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Book 845: A Case for Christmas (The Lords of Bucknall Club #2) – J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry

Book cover of "A Case for Christmas" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhen this one came to my inbox I of course said yes. I enjoyed A Husband for Hartwell, the first book in the Lords of Bucknall Club series and wanted to see where Rock and Henry took it. And if I’m a little bit honest, I was really hoping to read about the protagonists starting a family and adopting the little girl on the cover, but you’ll have to read it to find out about that.

For the most part, I wasn’t disappointed with the story, even though it felt like this book took a bit of a left turn from the first one. I was mostly expecting another Regency era romance, but instead got a regency era mystery with a bit of romance on the side. That’s definitely not a bad thing and I enjoyed both aspects of it, it’s just like I said a little out of left field for me.

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Book 844: An Unexpected Kind of Love – Hayden Stone

Book cover of "An Unexpected Kind of Love" with Amazon Affiliate linkI grabbed a copy of this from NetGalley when I was looking for books to fill in between other upcoming deadlines.* It had a cute premise and reminded me a lot of Notting Hill so of course I was going to want to read it!

Aubrey has taken over his family’s bookstore and is struggling to keep it afloat after he was unceremoniously dumped by his first (and only long term) boyfriend for their mutual friend, when he meets Blake, an up-and-coming American movie star who’s filming a movie up the street and encourages the film to approach Aubrey about using his store as a set.

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