Books

Book 1,024: Planes, Trains, and Hurricanes – Eli Easton

I grabbed this one over winter break from Kindle Unlimited, because I wanted to read a MM Holiday Romance and Eli Easton is one of those MM Romance authors who writes good stories, they’re not the best, but I do enjoy them. And growing up in the hurricane belt (Southeastern NC) I was interested in finding out WTF was happening in this novel.

Planes, Trains, and Hurricanes is the story of Joe, NYC hotshot with a rich future father in law trying to navigate the world of money having grown up relatively poor, and Remy, a southern do-gooder who has dedicated his time to educating and housing orphans and making the world a better place in general.

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Books

Book 949: Apple-y Ever After (Apple Meadows #1) – Catherine Cloverdale

When this one landed in my inbox I got excited, a fall New England romance set in a small Vermont town obsessed with their local apple festival, sounds like the perfect summer read.* Unfortunately, it’s a big ol’ NOPE from me.

Apple-y Ever After features travel writer/photographer Adrian who has been assigned to cover the local Apple Festival and the only place left with space for him to lodge is a local B&B run by hopelessly scattered and accident-prone still grieving from the death of his fiancé, Julian. Now, this should be the perfect setup, a well-traveled city boy coming to a small town where he meets the still grieving country boy, and boom happily ever after, right? Right?

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ARC, Books

Book 944: The Kingdom of Sand – Andrew Holleran

I wanted to like this book so much like really wanted to, because Holleran is one of those early LGBT authors whose work has stood the test of time for decades. And that’s why I requested a copy from NetGalley.*

What I didn’t expect was how similar to Mrs. Dalloway and A Single Man this would be. I think that bodes well for the longevity of the novel, but unfortunately, for me, it wasn’t the time or place to read it to truly appreciate or enjoy it. While there were some incredibly beautiful passages throughout, I struggled to get into the book and (for the most part) identify with the nameless narrator.

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Books

Book 758: Better Not Pout – Annabeth Albert

I grabbed this a few months ago when it went on sale and saved it for the holidays. I had every intention of waiting until December, but Thanksgiving happened and Lifetime/Hallmark movies started showing and I wanted more LGBT+ characters (I know there are a few this year but I haven’t had the chance to see them) and I remembered I had this one already so here we are.

The story starts off slower than many of Albert’s other works, but the characters are just as well written and the plot works for what it is. Nick, a beefy retiring military man, is cornered into volunteering with a local charity and meets Teddy, an over the top do-gooder, and fireworks don’t fly right away, but they slowly build until the grand finale.

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Books

Book 754: The Friend Scheme – Cale Dietrich

I’ve honestly stopped keeping track of where I see books. I just add them to a list or request them at the library and then when they come in I read them and spend 10-15 minutes trying to find out where I found them. In essence, I have no clue where I saw this, but thank you to whoever put it on my radar.

If I’m honest, the cover art drew me to the book, I like the graphic identity and the clean lines and with both their eyes closed it just made it that much more pleasing to the eye. You can sort of read the stress in Matt’s posture (right) and Jason kind of looks above it all.

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