Review: Daisy Jones & The Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid)

Daisy Jones & The Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrators:
Jennifer Beals, Pablo Schreiber, Benjamin Bratt, Fred Berman, Ari Fliakos, Judy Greer, January LaVoy, Robinne Lee, Julia Whelan, Jonathan Davis, Henry Leyva, Oliver Wyman, Nancy Wu, P.J. Ochlan, Arthur Bishop, Holter Graham, Brendan Wayne, Pete Larkin, Alex Jenkins Reid, Robert Petkoff, Sara Arrington
Publication Date: March 5, 2019
Publisher: Random House Audio
Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.


Prepare yourself. This is one of those reviews that is probably going to ramble and make little sense. I can’t help it. I’m completely overwhelmed by my feelings for this book — in a good way.

Daisy Jones & The Six is officially my favorite audiobook I have ever listened to. I cannot even begin to explain how amazing listening to this book was. I’ll start with the writing. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a freaking genius. There’s no other way to say it. Listening to Daisy Jones & The Six felt like listening to a memoir of a real live band. I had to stop myself from Googling the band and its members. That’s how real this story felt. Heck, I wish it was real so I could do that. That’s how much I loved this band. A band I have never even heard. How crazy is that? I also have to comment on how deep and moving this book was. That’s something normal for a TJR book, but I didn’t think this particular format would be able to show the depth of emotion it did. It was impressive.

I think what made the audiobook format so priceless was the narration. People, this is the way you MUST experience this book. I am sure reading it is good, too, but the narration was top-notch. I don’t think I have listened to a book with quite so many cast members before. Each narrator was perfect for the portrayal of their character. The textures of their voices layered in the best way and added even more emotion to the story. It also made keeping each character straight easy. Their voices made the band feel all the more real. I was mesmerized by it all.

As for the actual story… It was brilliant. I loved how it started with the history of Daisy Jones, switched to the history of Billy and Graham Dunn and their band The Six, and then the combination of them both. I can’t think of a way to describe it other than a beautiful, unexpected build up. It’s truly the story of a band making it big with little surprised along the way. The story almost feels like it could go on forever until suddenly it’s almost over and I had no idea where it was really leading until I was at the end.

And that end. Man, I still haven’t recovered. It was utter perfection. The best and worst surprise. I don’t cry that often while reading book, but it hit me hard. I was sobbing in those last moments I spent with Daisy Jones & The Six. It’s not like it was the saddest book I’ve read or anything. I just connected with something special in those last moments.

I haven’t really said much about the characters themselves. There are so many of them, it’s hard to know where to start. Maybe with Daisy Jones herself. She was beautifully imperfect. I both loved and hated her. Billy Dunn was the same. Although, I loved him more than hated him. Daisy might have brought on the opposite feelings. I felt the same about all the characters. They were flawed in that real sort of way. That was made me love this book. Flawed characters figuring things out. The magic was in the way they fit together. Does that even make sense? The funny thing is I’m trying to tell you about the characters and the band and they weren’t my favorite character in this book. My favorite character was Camila Dunn. That woman had a strength I could only strive to have. Her truths and actions impressed me. She’s going on my list of all-time favorite characters ever.

Everything about this book’s journey was utter perfection and I just can’t get over it. It’s rare for me to buy a book I’ve already read, but I think I am going to need a copy of this one on my shelf. I already want to experience Daisy Jones & The Six all over again. If I didn’t have to return the audiobook to my library, I would listen to it all over again right now. I’m that obsessed with it.

Okay, enough rambling.

Review: The Roommate Agreement (Emma Hart)

The Roommate Agreement
Author: Emma Hart
Publication Date: March 26, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

A brand new best-friends-to-lovers romcom from Emma Hart.

Let your homeless best friend stay with you, he said. Being roommates will be fun, he said. It’s only temporary, he said.
He never said I’d fall for him.

You know what isn’t ‘temporary?’ The endless stream of dirty socks in my bathroom and empty food packets under the sofa—and don’t even get me started on the hot guys who take over my living room every Sunday to watch sports.
I can’t take anymore.
So I propose a roommate agreement. One that will bring peace and order back to my life, complete with rules that might just stop my newfound crush on my best friend in its tracks.
After all, there’s only so many times you can see your best friend naked before you start to lose your mind.

Rules. They’re meant to be broken… Aren’t they?


The Roommate Agreement is a messy story about best friends who live together and are secretly in love with each other. It’s a messy story because both characters are a mess and the entire thing felt chaotic and out of control.

To be honest, I didn’t particularly like The Roommate Agreement when I started it. I felt confused by it. Shelby and Jake were already living together, and they drove each other nuts — and not in a good way. She complained about his housekeeping skills and the things he did made her so angry. Jake seemed to be somewhat oblivious to Shelby’s frustrations or just didn’t care. It felt more like Shelby and Jake were going to kill each other rather than fall in love. They irritated each other so much that when they started waxing on about their secret crushes on each other inside their heads, it didn’t feel right.

I also had a hard time connecting to the characters. Shelby and Jay were individually a freaking mess. Shelby was a walking contradiction. She was a writer who let her personal hygiene get sketchy while getting on Jay for absolutely every lazy thing he did. I would have been as annoyed as she was, but it felt like before the book started, she was enabling him. I don’t know. I just had a hard time believing someone who wanted everything so clean and tidy would go five days without washing her hair and not care if she got stinky. Jay also didn’t sit perfectly with me either. He ran a gym, yet couldn’t do his own laundry or pick up after himself? He had very attentive parents. I don’t see them not teaching him simple life skills and then entrusting a business to him. With all the complaining about each other, I just didn’t get the attraction.

The Roommate Agreement started to win me over when Shelby and Jay started to move from friends/roommates to more. Shelby and Jay were cute once they decided to make their feelings known and act on them.  I liked how they decided to proceed with their relationship. They ended up having way more chemistry than I expected after the beginning. It was fun how their families and friends got involved. Jay’s grandma was a hoot. I also loved his mom and dad. Shelby’s parents were equally as fun. It was also cool that their other best friends were in a relationship and how that affected theirs. I liked the relationship part of the book. I would have liked more of it and less of the roommate part.

So, yeah… This was an extremely hard book to rate for me. It felt chaotic and I was unsure if I was going to like it. I probably would have given it two stars if it hadn’t ended so strongly.  I guess it won me over in the end.

Top Ten Tuesday: Audio FREEBIE – Some of My Favorite Audiobooks

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s is Audio FREEBIE. I’m going to go with my favorite audiobooks.

1. Love & Other Words
Authors: Christina Lauren
Narrator: Erin Mallon

2. The Kiss Quotient
Author: Helen Hoang
Narrator: Carly Robbins

3. How to Walk Away
Author: Katherine Center
Narrator: Thérèse Plummer

4. Real Good Man
Author: Meghan March
Narrators: Sebastian York, Elena Wolfe

5. Fallen Crest High
Author: Tijan
Narrator: Saska Maarleveld

6. Nowhere But Here
Author: Katie McGarry
Narrators: Marguerite Gavin, Sean Pratt

7. The Hating Game
Author: Sally Thorne
Narrator: Katie Schorr

8. Daisy Jones and The Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrators: Jennifer Beals, Pablo Schreiber, Benjamin Bratt, Fred Berman, Ari Fliakos, Judy Greer, January LaVoy, Robinne Lee, Julia Whelan, Jonathan Davis, Henry Leyva, Oliver Wyman, Nancy Wu,  P.J. Ochlan, Arthur Bishop, Holter Graham, Brendan Wayne, Pete Larkin, Alex Jenkins Reid, Robert Petkoff, Sara Arrington

9. Nine Minutes
Author: Beth Flynn
Narrator: Monique Makena

10. Royally Matched
Author: Emma Chase
Narrator: Shane East, Andi Arndt

Review: Jar of Hearts (Jennifer Hillier)

Jar of Hearts
Author: Jennifer Hillier
Publication Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Fiction

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who’s been searching for the truth all these years . . .

When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.

But fourteen years later, Angela Wong’s remains are discovered in the woods near Geo’s childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.

To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he’s something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo’s first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.

For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela’s death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.

While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.

How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?


Wow. Just wow.

I’m a reader who loves a good thriller, but I’m always hesitant to pick one up. Sometimes they have this slow, dreary quality that drives me a little nuts. Jar of Hearts was not one of those thrillers. It was explosive from the start. I loved how the mystery and suspense of the story was set up. The plot was fascinating and just the right amount of disturbing. Every character had lightness and darkness in them that made it hard to know who to trust. I felt like I was discovering connections and twists right alongside them. There was never a slow spot or stall in the story. I was always wondering what was next until the very end. I really can’t put into words how amazing this thriller was.

Jar of Hearts was so well written. I haven’t read a thriller in a long time that has impressed me this much. I have to thank Stephanie and a bunch of other bloggers who reviewed this book. If I hadn’t heard such great things about it, I would have missed out. This book is too good to miss out on! It is definitely worth the hype it got.

Mini Reviews: Books Off My TBR (Perry, West, Crownover, Grey)

Recently, I had the chance to read several books off of my TBR. This post is dedicated to those books.

The Birthday List
Series: Maysen Jar, #1
Author: Devney Perry
Publication Date: August 1, 2021
Publisher: Devney Perry LLC
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

The Birthday List was a very beautiful book about the heartache associated with the tragic loss of the person you are supposed to grow old with. It was a book about moving on from grief, taking things one step at a time, really living, and opening yourself back up for love. Poppy chose to do all of this by completing her deceased husband’s birthday list (think bucket list). She had no idea that attempting to complete Jamie’s list would put Cole, the officer who dealt the blow of Jamie’s death, in her path again. When Cole learns what Poppy is going, he offers to help with the birthday list. As they check experiences off Jamie’s list, they fall in love.

The Birthday List was a bittersweet romance filled with so many touching moments and wisdom to take in. I totally get it now, all the rave reviews I have read for Devney Perry’s books. I have wanted to read her books for some time now, but I put them off because I was afraid of how emotional they might be. I’m sad I did that. Devney Perry’s writing was so beautiful and touching. I’m so happy I finally gave in and picked up The Birthday List. I can’t wait to read more of her books in the near future.

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss
Author: Kasie West
Publication Date: February 5, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

I am a big fan of Kasie West’s adorable contemporaries. Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss wasn’t my favorite of her books, but I did really enjoy it. The movie set setting and plot were a lot of fun. I loved how Donovan was Lacey’s tutor. They were so cute together. I would have loved to have spent more time with them as a couple. It was also cool that Lacey’s dad was so involved in this story. Oh, and I can’t leave how that it was fun to see Abby and Cooper from Love, Life, and the List again. (Yes, Lacey is that actress friend!) Overall, this was a great contemporary read.

Charged
Series: Saints of Denver, #2
Author: Jay Crownover
Publication Date: May 24, 2016
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

I have owned this book FOREVER. I didn’t immediately pick it up because I hadn’t read book 1 yet. I wanted to read them in order, so I finally read Built last month. I liked it a lot and was excited to read Charged. Charged was even better than Built. I loved it from the moment I started reading it. Avett and Quaid were opposites, and yet their personalities fit together nicely. Quaid was all buttoned up and Avett was a whirlwind. I loved how they balanced each other out. I also really enjoyed the little bit of suspense we got in this story. Charged is definitely my favorite Jay Crownover book yet. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series.

Make Me Bad
Author: R.S. Grey
Publication Date: March 7, 2019
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

Make Me Bad was simply adorable! I loved the premise of the story. It was about a twenty-five-year-old librarian who was sheltered by her father and older brother. She wanted to step outside the boundaries they created for her and experience life. Who else would be better to help her with than the guy her family forbade her from? Fancy pants lawyer Ben Rosenberg is more than happy to help gorgeous Madison go “bad”. He can’t seem to get the sweet girl off his mind. He would do anything to spend time with her. Can’t you just tell how fun this book is from that description? Madison was adorable and Ben was the perfect guy to help her spread her wings. If you’re looking for a fun, feel good story this book is for you.

Review: Meet Cute (Helena Hunting)

Meet Cute
Author: Helena Hunting
Publication Date: April 9, 2019
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

The New York Times bestselling author of Pucked and The Good Luck Charm delivers a Hollywood happily-ever-after where a famous heartthrob falls for his ultimate fangirl in this sexy standalone romantic comedy.

Talk about an embarrassing introduction. On her first day of law school, Kailyn ran – quite literally – into the actor she crushed on as a teenager, ending with him sprawled on top of her. Mortified to discover the Daxton Hughes was also a student in her class, her embarrassment over their meet-cute quickly turned into a friendship she never expected. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming either…

Now, eight years later, Dax is in her office asking for legal advice. Despite her anger, Kailyn can’t help feeling sorry for the devastated man who just became sole guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister. But when her boss gets wind of Kailyn’s new celebrity client, there’s even more at stake than Dax’s custody issues: if she gets Dax to work at their firm, she’ll be promoted to partner.

The more time Kailyn spends with Dax and his sister, the more she starts to feel like a family, and the more she realizes the chemistry they had all those years ago is as fresh as ever. But will they be able to forgive the mistakes of the past, or will one betrayal lead to another?


What is the first thing that comes to mind when you look at the cover and title of Meet Cute?  Is it adorable romantic comedy? That’s what came to my mind when I looked at it. As amazing and adorable as the Meet Cute cover and title are, I feel like they did a disservice to the story inside. Meet Cute isn’t a romantic comedy. It’s an emotional contemporary romance with a couple of funny moments. I guess the blurb kind of lends itself to that, but based on the cover I was expecting a more upbeat story. I’m writing all of this because I think a lot of Helena Hunting fans are going to be surprised (and maybe slightly disappointed) like I was. Not that there weren’t some great things about this story. I was just expecting something happier.

Meet Cute started off funny and cute enough. I loved how Kailyn met Dax. I would have loved more of the start of their friendship-ish relationship in college. Things took a turn quickly and fast forwarded to their adult lives, which became complicated and entwined with the death of Dax’s parents. At this point, things became sad and depressing. Dax and his teenage sister were left behind. The things they had to go through were tough — like I would expect. Even though there was a sadness, I actually really enjoyed this scenario. I loved seeing Dax become a father figure to his sister and realign his priorities. Their bond was very sweet. I liked how Kailyn fit into this as well, but that also kind of leads to my biggest issue with this book…

Kailyn and Dax are supposed to be lawyers at the top of their law school class. Both have shown in their fields. They are smart adults who should know how and strive to make ethical choices. They don’t in this book. I was shocked and frustrated by the choices Kailyn and Dax made. I was shocked that both would make decisions that could have and should have affected what was going on with custody of Dax’s sister. It all made me so mad and irritated. I was especially frustrated with how Kailyn handled the situation. I was so irritated that I just wanted to be done reading the book at times.

I want to say I loved Kailyn and Dax together, but I didn’t care about their relationship that much. I loved what made Kailyn truly start to fall for Dax and some of the moments they had together, but Kailyn’s actions drove me nuts. Their relationship was also overshadowed by other relationships in this book. I loved the supportive relationship Kailyn formed with Emme. I loved Emme and Dax’s relationship. I loved how the three of them made a family at times. Those relationships put Kailyn and Dax on the back burner for me.

One of the things I loved about Meet Cute was the custody dispute between Dax and his aunt Linda. I knew where it was going, but that didn’t bother me. I thought it was well written and executed.

As you can probably tell, Meet Cute had a lot of ups and downs. By the time I got to the end of it, I was ready for it to be over. Then, came the epilogue. It was like being transported back to the beginning of the story where all the cute and fun stuff happened. The ending was adorable, but it didn’t fit. To be honest, it felt like an entirely different book was wrapping up. It was a shock to the system. One that I enjoyed but felt out-of-place. It made me wish the entire book had been like the beginning and the end. Which is sad because while I wouldn’t say I loved Meet Cute, I felt the emotional story of Dax and Emme was important. I don’t know. I guess I just wish Helena Hunting had decided which direction to go with this novel and stuck with it. Emotional and funny can go together, but they need to be better infused for that to work.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Spring 2019 TBR

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s is Books On My Spring 2019 TBR. Pretty simply, so let’s go!

1. Daisy Jones & The Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

2. Wolfhunter River
Series: Stillhouse Lake, #3
Author: Rachel Caine

She can’t ignore a cry for help. But in this remote hunting town, it’s open season.

Gwen Proctor escaped her serial-killer husband and saved her family. What she can’t seem to outrun is his notoriety. Or the sick internet vigilantes still seeking to avenge his crimes. For Gwen, hiding isn’t an option. Not when her only mission is to create a normal life for her kids.

But now, a threatened woman has reached out. Marlene Crockett, from the remote town of Wolfhunter, is panicked for herself and her daughter. When Gwen arrives in the small, isolated rural community, Marlene is already dead—her own daughter blamed for the murder. Except that’s not the person Marlene feared at all. And Gwen isn’t leaving until she finds out who that was.

But it may already be too late. A trap has been set. And it’s poised to snap shut on everyone Gwen loves. Her stalkers are closing in. And in a town as dark as Wolfhunter, it’s so easy for them to hide…

3. Serious Moonlight
Author: Jenn Bennett

After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately.

Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel.

In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel.

To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.

4. Hollywood Prince
Series: Hollywood Royalty, #3
Author: Natasha Madison

Behind the “lights, camera, action” of Hollywood lies a world of deception, love, and seduction.

Are you ready for Hollywood Royalty?

Carter
A blonde, a brunette, a redhead…he can have his pick of them all on any given night and he knows it. They wait, hoping he looks up and gives them his signature smirk, choosing them over the others because that’s his game.

Except now he’s signed the contract of a lifetime, one with a pesky little clause that says his zipper must stay up and his playboy image has got to tamp down. It’ll be fine—a piece of cake, even—he can do this and he’s almost convinced himself of that … and then she walks in the room

The new PR girl whom they’ve hired to change his image, she’s the star of all his dreams, but there’s one tiny little problem … she can’t stand him and all of his player ways.

He knows he only has thirty days to show her why they call him Hollywood’s Prince. He’s up for the challenge, so game on.

5. Passion on Park Avenue
Author: Lauren Layne

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Stiletto and Oxford series, the first in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper East Side women as they struggle to achieve their dreams and find true love and happiness in the city that never sleeps.

For as long as she can remember, Bronx-born Naomi Powell has had one goal: to prove her worth among the Upper East Side elite—the same people for which her mom worked as a housekeeper. Now, as the strongminded, sassy CEO of one of the biggest jewelry empires in the country, Naomi finally has exactly what she wants—but it’s going to take more than just the right address to make Manhattan’s upper class stop treating her like an outsider.

The worst offender is her new neighbor, Oliver Cunningham—the grown son of the very family Naomi’s mother used to work for. Oliver used to torment Naomi when they were children, and as a ridiculously attractive adult, he’s tormenting her in entirely different ways. Now they find themselves engaged in a battle-of-wills that will either consume or destroy them…

Filled with charm and heart and plenty of sex and snark, this entertaining series will hook you from the very first page.

6. The Bride Test
Author: Helen Hoang

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.

With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

7. Dirty Charmer
Series: The Bodyguards, #1
Author: Emma Chase

Abigail Haddock is stunning, sensible, and some would say…stuffy. But it’s not really her fault. She was raised in one of Wessco’s oldest, most affluent, aristocratic families—“stuffy” is their middle name. So is successful. Abby’s working overtime to distinguish herself as a top-notch physician, just as her family legacy demands.

She doesn’t have time for nonsense.

Tommy Sullivan’s all about nonsense.

Sure, he’s an elite bodyguard with lethal skills and co-owner of the renowned, S&S Securities Firm—protector of the wealthy and titled. But he’s also rowdy, fun and thoroughly irresistible.

Tommy knows how to have a good time, and he’s never seen someone more in need of a good time than Abby. The lass needs long, wet, filthy kisses—STAT—and he’s just the man for the job.

It doesn’t take long for a wildly sexy, sinfully satisfying, no-strings attached arrangement to turn into something more. Something sweet and addictive and real. But Tommy and Abby are too royally stubborn to admit it.

Opposites attract, everyone knows that. But can they last—can they love…for forever?

8. The Roommate Agreement
Author: Emma Hart

Let your homeless best friend stay with you, he said. Being roommates will be fun, he said. It’s only temporary, he said.
He never said I’d fall for him.

You know what isn’t ‘temporary?’ The endless stream of dirty socks in my bathroom and empty food packets under the sofa—and don’t even get me started on the hot guys who take over my living room every Sunday to watch sports.
I can’t take anymore.
So I propose a roommate agreement. One that will bring peace and order back to my life, complete with rules that might just stop my newfound crush on my best friend in its tracks.
After all, there’s only so many times you can see your best friend naked before you start to lose your mind.

Rules. They’re meant to be broken… Aren’t they?

9. Junk Mail
Author: Kendall Ryan

It all started with a sexy selfie.

Texted to the wrong number.

Oops.

Not my finest moment—but I have nothing to be ashamed of.

She thought I was no better, and I quote, than the knuckle-dragging douche-bags she was never dating again.

It was a stupid dare from a girl I’d met online, but since she’d given me a fake number, I didn’t feel bad that my interests were suddenly focused elsewhere—on the fiery and sharp-tongued, Peyton that I found myself sparring with over text for the rest of the evening.

The following day, my case of mistaken identity came back to bite me in the banana.

When I strolled into the office, I was introduced to Peyton as the new client I needed to win over. The Peyton , in case you’re not tracking.

And let’s just say she had my full attention.

Brains? Check.

Beauty? Oh yeah.

And the best part? She hated me on sight.

Dear God, do I love a challenge.

Let the games begin.

10. Time
Series: Laws of Physics, #3
Author: Penny Reid
From the New York Times Bestselling Author Penny Reid

Laws of Physics is the second trilogy in the Hypothesis series; Laws of Physics parts 1 (MOTION) & 2 (SPACE) end with a cliffhanger.

Are any of these books on your spring TBR?

Review: Space (Penny Reid)

Space
Series: Laws of Physics, #2
Author: Penny Reid
Publication Date: March 11, 2019
Publisher: EverAfter Romance
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

One week.
Private cabin.
Famous physicist.
Still an unrepentant slacker.
What’s the worst that could happen?

Mona’s meticulously planned allotment of relaxation is thrown into chaos by the unscheduled appearance of her older brother’s band of friends, including the one person she’d hoped to never face again. Abram still makes her feel entirely too much, which is one of the reasons she disappeared after their one week together. But now, trapped on a mountain of snow and things unspoken, Mona will have to find a way to coexist with Abram, chaos and all.


If you aren’t familiar with the Laws of Physics series, it starts with Motion. In Motion, we meet Mona and Abram. Genius Mona is pretending to be her twin sister, Lisa. “Lisa” is under her brother’s best friend’s watchful eye for her wild ways. Abram and “Lisa” connect in a way neither of them planned. Some stuff goes down and there’s a major cliffhanger. (If this sounds at all interesting, hurry up and pick up Motion)

Why I did I just tell you all that? Well, Space is the continuation of Mona and Abram’s story. It’s been a couple of years since Mona and Abram saw each other. Both have regrets from their time together. They have to work through a bunch of stuff. It’s uncomfortable and note easy for either of them to do, especially around so many people.

PENNY REID!!! You’re so amazing, so how can you be so cruel? I loved Space so much. It was so freaking sweet and funny and good. It was also stressful in the best way possible. The cliffhanger wasn’t exactly shocking, but it did leave me needing MORE.I need Time like NOW! I couldn’t get enough of Mona and Abram. Fans of Penny Reid’s books are going to love this smart romance series.

Review: Team Player (Julianna Keyes)

Team Player
Author: Julianna Keyes
Publication Date: March 28, 2019
Publisher: Julianna Keyes
Genre: Contemporary, Sports, Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

Don’t hate the player…

BOTTOM NINE
Gwen Scott wants to love her job with the Charleston Thrashers, the MLB team she’s worshiped since she was a kid, but she can’t. Hateful colleagues and mind-numbing work make her days unbearable—until her head for baseball gets her exclusive access to the Thrashers’ clubhouse and she comes face-to-face with Tyler Ashe, the team’s sexy shortstop and baseball’s most ineligible bachelor.

BASES LOADED
Ty has sworn off relationships in order to focus on his all-star career, but with his best friend gone, his team struggling, and the press blaming him for every loss, the most recognizable man in the majors is in a slump. Until he starts spending his time off the field with a stern blonde who recites baseball stats for kicks and sees through his arrogant façade.

TWO OUT
As the Thrashers’ season gets into full swing and Gwen adjusts to her new job, their fun banter and friendly teasing turns into stolen kisses and countless steamy nights. The team’s strict policy against player-staff relationships throws a curve ball into the mix, but they can’t hide from their feelings any more than the most famous man in baseball can hide from the spotlight…


Team Player is a classic contemporary sports romance. It’s written in third person dual point of view. While that’s not my favorite type of narration, it was well done. I almost didn’t notice it was third instead. I loved how each chapter started off with a fun Tweet that applied to what was coming up.

There was a lot of stuff going on in this book. Gwen was dealing with her aunt’s death and trying to hold onto her job with the Thrashers. Her attraction to Ty wasn’t something she was ready to face. Ty wasn’t quite ready for Gwen either. His baseball career hasn’t been the same since his best friend abandoned him. Despite all of this, they don’t want to fight their attraction and start to secretly see each other. The secrecy of their relationship adds a bunch of other things for Gwen and Ty to deal with.

Gwen and Tyler were both similar and completely opposite people. Gwen was quiet and spent a lot of time trying to fly under the radar. Tyler was a cocky athlete who was always in the spotlight. Surprisingly, both of them were loners. Neither had a good support system or friends. I thought that was weird and a little too convenient, but it was one of the things that helped them connect to each other. They had great chemistry. I loved their quiet moments together — especially how they watched a baking show together.

I think what shocked me most about Team Player was that it wasn’t the couple or the romance that was my favorite thing about the book. I loved other stuff more. I thought Gwen and Ty’s backstories were really good and important. I wish they had gotten a little more focus. I loved reading about Gwen’s relationship with Marge and how it shaped her life — especially when it came to her job with the Thrashers. The dynamic in Gwen’s office was fun and fresh. I loved how smart she was when it came to her job. I adored all of the Thrashers’ players. Ty’s teammates were hilarious. They made his character feel more “real”. I would love books about a couple of them. (Preferably in first person…) Overall, Team Player was a fun contemporary sports romance.

Review: Heart of the Devil (Meghan March)

Heart of the Devil
Series: Forge Trilogy, #3
Author: Meghan March
Publication Date: March 12, 2019
Publisher: Red Dress Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling author Meghan March comes the stunning conclusion to the Forge Trilogy. In this final volume, ruthless billionaire Jericho Forge faces his toughest challenge. To emerge victorious, he’ll have to give up the one thing he’s never offered a woman—his heart.

It started as a game. She was nothing but my pawn.

But I was quick to see the error in my ways, and now she is everything I never knew I needed.

The value of a woman like India Baptiste is beyond measure.

But the problem with being a man like me? I’ve already screwed this up, and there’s no guarantee India will take me on for one last bet.

I’ll do whatever I have to do. Drop to my knees and offer her the only thing I have left. The one thing that’s only ever been hers—the heart of the devil.


Woohoo! What a conclusion to an explosive trilogy! Heart of the Devil exceeded every expectation I had for it. It kept me on my toes at all times. I didn’t know who to suspect or believe. I was shocked and awed by so many of the revelations that kept coming throughout the entire book. Ms. March couldn’t have written a better ending for Jericho and Indy’s epic romance. I loved every minute of it!