ARC, Books

Book 887: If This Gets Out – Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich

My little closeted teenage heart would’ve died to read something like this in the late-90s/early-00s. So, when I saw it on NetGalley I requested it IMMEDIATELY, the publisher approved, and I have been sitting on it for months.*

I know I’ve said it before and I’ll keep on saying it—I am SO jealous of all the teens today getting to see themselves in books like this. I mean hell I enjoy them and I am WELL outside the target demographic for these.

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Book 886: A Handful of Joy – Pat Henshaw

I accepted this review copy because the cover is adorable and it’s a novella.* This time of year is always busy for me at work, so I always need a few short novels/novellas on hand to fill gaps or to just distract me. The plot also grabbed my attention, but really it was the cover that got me, I mean ADORBS.

The protagonists Ted and Matt meet fatefully one night in a bar and slow dance when no one else is dancing. And it flies from there into a whirlwind romance of one week and then on to forever.

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Books

Book 885: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce

Ugh—I should’ve given up while I was ahead, or used the same app I used to slog my way through Ulysses. This was the longest 215 pages of my life.

I actually broke down for the last chapter and found an audiobook version from my local library to listen to at 1.25x speed while sorting data and stuff at work. So, at the very least I can say I enjoyed the Irish accents for that portion of it and the Whaley last name shout out about 75% of the way through 😀

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Book 884: The Holiday Hoax – Skylar M. Cates

This was a perfectly lovely, low-angst Chrismukkah fake boyfriend MM Holiday Romance.

I grabbed this because of the above. Who doesn’t love a fake boyfriend story or a holiday romance? I mean come on, it’s the perfect time of the year and weather to snuggle up by a fire and read a one-sitting romance with minimal angst and an adorable happy for now ending.

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Book 883: New Year Not You – Edie Montreux

UGH. Two duds in a row and MM Holiday Romances at that! I’m now warry about what I read next and really wish I had an Annabeth Albert or a Roan Parrish lined up, because I need their perfection after these last two!

This one had so much promise when it arrived in my inbox: enemies to lovers, substance abuse overcome with sobriety, redemption and romance, two protagonists who’ve known each other forever and reconnecting as they’re coming into their own as adults, but in the end, it was one massive let down from beginning to end.*

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