ARC, Books

Book 756: Strawberry Kisses – Charlie Novak

Give me a fake boyfriend romance any day of the week, gay, straight, bisexual, anything really, and I’m in. I don’t know why I like them so much, I just do. So, when I saw this come through from Gay Romance Reviews and I needed a filler between two nonfiction books, I requested a copy.*

I won’t lie and tell you it got off to a great start, there was a typo on page one [“Deseeding twenty passion fruit and another ten pomegranates was a pain the ass and had taken a ton of time.” (Chapter One)] and I wasn’t sure about Novak’s voice, but it definitely got better so I’m glad I kept reading.

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Books

Book 740: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (To All the Boys #1) – Jenny Han

We watched this adaptation on Netflix when it was first released and when I noticed the second in the trilogy was released I realized I wanted to go back and read the source. And really, there weren’t that many differences which was refreshing.

The move rarely strays from the book and I enjoyed the opportunity to revisit with Lara Jean and her dramatic junior year of high school. The book, more so than the movie, better captured the emotions of the three young women growing up without a mother at what is obviously a momentous time in their lives. And I really enjoyed the extended family information and few interactions.

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Book 675: Mr. Darcy Forever (Austen Addicts #3) – Victoria Connelly

I think what I like about this series more than most of the others is that it pays as much homage to the cult of Austen as it does to the original Austen works. Each of the books in this trilogy (maybe the series?) take a lead from one of Austen’s original novels, but then move away from it diving into the fantastical world of the Janeites. Connelly once again dropped a tidbit of Austen-dom knowledge I wasn’t aware of in the Austen Authors website, which was a neat discovery, but seems to have undergone a major change since it was originally mentioned in this book. [Edit 10.24.2022 and apparently no longer exists, leaving the link in case it comes back up.]

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Book 671: Dreaming of Mr. Darcy (Austen Addicts #2) – Victoria Connelly

Coming hot on the heels of A Weekend with Mr. Darcy, I of course had to read the follow up novel since the library just happened to have a digital download with no wait. What is that you’re whispering, “Self restraint?” Unfortunately, that’s not in my vocabulary—especially when it comes to books and explicitly when it comes to Jane Austen.

Book two of Connelly’s Austen Addicts series focused more on Persuasion than Pride and Prejudice, although there were plenty of Darcy references. This pretty much solidified that I’ll take my copy of Persuasion (where I’ll be when this posts).

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Book 670: A Weekend with Mr. Darcy (Austen Addicts #1) – Victoria Connelly

Hello, TBR pile, it’s been a long time. I picked this e-book up EIGHT YEARS AGO. Who knows why I didn’t read it that summer, but I finally read it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

When I picked up the book, there were only three books in Connelly’s Austen Addicts series, but since then it’s increased to six. I’m not sure I’ll read past Mr. Darcy Forever since it looks like Connelly may have switched publishers and those last three covers are frightful, but never say never right? It’s also probably a good thing I didn’t read it eight years ago when I had more time day-to-day because Connelly introduced me to the Republic of Pemberley, a Jane Austen message board/forum. I did a cursory look over it and yeah, I definitely would’ve gotten lost in that quagmire!

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