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Book 844: An Unexpected Kind of Love – Hayden Stone

I 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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Book 837: Fifty Words for Rain – Asha Lemmie

I feel hollow after finishing this book—I’m not sure emotionally drained is the right word because I feel like I have so many emotions going on that they’ve just forced each other out and there’s just nothing.  And when you take in that this is a debut novel, damn.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it’s been on my radar since the publisher reached out last year when it was first published but I didn’t get to it until the paperback was recently released.* I really should’ve prioritized it from back then because I feel like Dutton never steers me wrong looking at the books I’ve read from them.

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Book 829: Out of Character (True Colors #2) – Annabeth Albert

If there’s one thing I don’t like about reading series as they’re released it’s all the small details I forget  between the books! I vaguely remember Jasper from Conventionally Yours, but only just. However, Annabeth Albert is the pinnacle when it comes to MM romances so when the opportunity arose I jumped for a review copy!*

Out of Character is the story of childhood best friends Jasper, nerdy gaymer geek with a heart of gold, and Milo, sporty problem child who hasn’t quite figured his life out yet. They stopped being friends when they were younger when Milo abandoned Jasper for his jock friends and Jasper held on to that hurt until this book. And I think second chance romances might be slowly climbing my trope list because this one was freakin’ adorable.

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Book 811: Yes, Daddy – Jonathan Parks-Ramage

This is a dark ass book and a perfect example of what happens when I read too many MM Romances. I’m guessing I read the first part of the synopsis and either didn’t finish or blocked out the last portion when/after I requested a review copy.*

Don’t get me wrong, the fact that it’s dark definitely doesn’t take away from it being a good book, I just had no idea that it got dark and then even darker before starting to get a little lighter at the end. I did not like the protagonist, Jonah, and I do not think he redeemed himself by the end (and that is in no way victim blaming), he just wasn’t likeable.

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Book 806: The Music of Bees – Eileen Garvin

I had no expectations of this going in. I grabbed a copy from NetGalley after re-upping my name on the Dutton ARC/Review copy list and if I’m honest I totally chose it because of the cover and the lyricalness of the title.*

I was so glad when I started reading that I fell right into it. Garvin has a way of building place and chosen family that does sometimes feel slow—it’s like COME ON you’re totally going to be BFFs forever we all can see it, just get there—but really is the perfect pace. She also clearly has s huge respect for bees and their place in the pollination cycle.

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