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Book 812: The Step Back – J.T. Bushnell

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this. I saw a meh review (that was still four stars) on Goodreads so that definitely made me hesitant to start. But, I’d already told the publisher I’d take a look at it, so I did.*

The Step Back is the story of Ed Garrison. There’s not a lot that happens other than he grows the f*ck up. It sounds weird saying it’s that simple—sure it’s a two-year period in his life is full of upheaval and maturing faster than he want—but in essence that’s what it is.

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Book 798: Emerett Has Never Been In Love (Love, Austen #1) – Anyta Sunday

I was never going to say no to this. It’s a MM romance novel inspired by Jane Austen. If they would’ve thrown in Star Wars or some other geekdom I doubt I could’ve restrained myself from waiting as long as I did to read it!*

This was never going to be my favorite no matter how much I enjoyed Sunday’s writing or characters, it’s just not my story when it comes to Austen, but for the most part, I enjoyed this retelling of Austen’s Emma.

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Book 791: Fall Through Spring (Winter Ball #3) – Amy Lane

And this just goes to show what happens when you have to eat your words. At the end of my review for Summer Lessons, I said I wasn’t sure Dane and Clay needed their own story and Lane proved me wrong for the most part.

I still wonder how all of this happened when Mason and Terry were getting together, but I guess Dane did disappear for large swaths of the books. The one scene that really gets me though was when Skip called Clay out during a heart-to-heart when they were eating lunch with Mason. Clearly things were a lot further along at that point than it appeared in book two!

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Book 789: Summer Lessons (Winter Ball #2) – Amy Lane

After finishing Wolf Hall, I knew I was going to need a bit of a breather and where else to turn but the next book in a romance series I’d already started and the library just happened to have?

I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first one, it had a lot more humor, but it also brought to light a few more things about Lane’s writing setting that I’m not so sure I’m a fan of. There’s just one aspect of these books that has forced me out of the story at key plot points and that is NEVER a good sign.

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Book 785: Lonely Hearts (Love Lessons #3) – Heidi Cullinan

What was missing from Heidi Cullinan’s Love Lessons series? A fake boyfriend romance, so of course that’s what she provided and I soaked up in the third installment Lonely Hearts.

Picking up immediately after Fever Pitch, Cullinan dives right into the story of Elijah, the jaded and toying with the lines of addiction and safe sex roommate of Aaron from the last book, and Baz, life of the party big man on campus, but hiding a soft inside with a heartbreaking backstory.

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