Books

Book 1,011: Catch Me If I Fall – Noah Steele

Book cover of "Catch Me If I fall" with amazon Affiliate linkThis book had so much that I wanted to love, but only just enjoyed. To be fair, a lot of the pressure was from me and if I would’ve read the book any other time, I probably would’ve been enamored. I picked this up after not reading anything for leisure for almost 6 weeks and after I finished this it took another almost 12-weeks to pick up another, even though it was summer, and I didn’t have as much school or heavy workload at work.

It’s not a badly written book, it’s well written and copywritten, which is an even better bonus. It just wasn’t the right time for me to read it. There were moments that the story felt stretched too thin and went on too long, especially looking back at it. Somehow how though, it didn’t end cleanly enough so much so that I picked my Kindle up a week or two after finishing it thinking I still had quite a bit to read.

Continue reading “Book 1,011: Catch Me If I Fall – Noah Steele”

Books

Book 983: Unexpecting – Jen Bailey

Book cover of "Unexpecting" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhen someone in the marketing department reached out about this back in December, I wasn’t I was going to read it as I’d had a very stressful fall with a new puppy and school and work, but the blurb stayed in my mind, and after a couple of days deliberation I finally said yes.* I mean I had months to read it so may as well say yes and then plan around my schedule.

Unexpecting was unexpectedly (hardy har har) charming. Was it perfect? No, but that’s okay. It was a fun easy-to-read debut with unique and memorable characters (main and supporting). The book brought a lot of emotions out of me from hating and then understanding Maxie’s parents to my wanting to shake some sense into Ben but also wanting to give him a big hug for trying so hard and finally seeing reality. It was definitely a whirlwind.

Continue reading “Book 983: Unexpecting – Jen Bailey”

Books

Book 960: With Love from Wish & Co. – Minnie Darke

Book cover of "With Love from Wish & Co." with Amazon Affiliate linkThe recommendation for this book arrived from the publisher way back in April and me being me assumed I’d have PLENTY of time to read it before it was published.* But then I didn’t read it early, we got a puppy and I started school, so yeah needless to say it took me a lot longer to read than expected.

Thankfully it wasn’t the writing or the story that forced the long delay! For the most part, the story kept me engaged and moving forward with only a few slower spots or wait what moments.

Continue reading “Book 960: With Love from Wish & Co. – Minnie Darke”

Books

Book 959: The Dove in the Belly – Jim Grimsley

Book cover of "The Dove in the Belly" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhen I finished re-reading Dream Boy back in May, I did a quick search to see what Jim Grimsley was up to these days and stumbled across this upcoming release. I reached out to the publisher for a copy and crossed my fingers it wasn’t going to be as traumatic or emotionally draining as the others I’ve read.*

The Dove in the Belly is the story of Ronny and Ben. It takes place on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in the 1970s and that’s the main reason I wanted to read this, Grimsley went to UNC and having it set on the UNC campus intrigued me as I also went to UNC and remember some of the history around the early LGBT organizations and experiences on campus.

Continue reading “Book 959: The Dove in the Belly – Jim Grimsley”

Books

Book 948: Patricia Wants to Cuddle – Samantha Allen

Book cover of "Patricia Wants to Cuddle" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhat a wonderfully weird novel. When this landed in my inbox from the publisher I first thought WTF is that because the cover art screams pulp fiction and as much as I find those hilarious I’m not usually drawn to them. However, I’d decided I wanted to expand my LGBT novel repertoire, and knowing this featured lesbian/bisexual female protagonists I said sure why not.*

Billed as a satire of The BachelorPatricia Wants to Cuddle takes place in the final two weeks of The Catch‘s season with four female finalists and the catch going to the San Juan islands off the coast of Washington state. While it is that, it’s also a final girl thriller novel with murder and mystery and urban legends aplenty to keep the reader engaged.

Continue reading “Book 948: Patricia Wants to Cuddle – Samantha Allen”