Made For You by Jenna Satterthwaite Narrated (expertly) by Bailey Carr 11 hrs 51 minutes at 1x speed (I listened at 1.7x speed)
SO.MUCH.FUN
THEN:
After thMade For You by Jenna Satterthwaite Narrated (expertly) by Bailey Carr 11 hrs 51 minutes at 1x speed (I listened at 1.7x speed)
SO.MUCH.FUN
THEN:
After the first two Synths (Synthetic women) twins Christie and Chrystal became household names when their reality show “Keeping Up with the Synths” became a mega hit-the producers of “The Proposal” (The Bachelor clone) came up with a controversial new twist for the next season…
“Hi. My name is Julia. I’m a Synth. And I’m here to find love…”
Synth Julia Walden was designed to compete on The Proposal and win the heart of bachelor Josh LaSala. AND, she does. (not a spoiler-read the official synopsis)
SO.MANY.SURPRISES.
NOW:
It’s fifteen months later and Julia and Josh are married with a baby. But not everyone was on board with his choice. There are haters everywhere and it’s taking a toll on their marriage.
Can they survive now that the cameras have stopped rolling and REALITY has set in? Or will they become the latest casualty of the franchise?
Julia: “What was I made for, Love or Heartbreak? ...more
When “T” is kind enough to let “C” know that he has sent his email to the wrong aValentine’s Day 2014
“One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance”
When “T” is kind enough to let “C” know that he has sent his email to the wrong address, he thanks her and wishes her a happy Valentine’s Day.
But, “C” is the “exception to the rule” so this email exchange isn’t the end, instead becoming an annual tradition, albeit a few rules: no pics, no real names, and nothing too personal-to keep things fun!
But as TEN years go by, they realize that they have actually become friends.
Is 2024 the year that they might finally meet in person?
“Christina Lauren’s The Exception to the Rule is part of The Improbable Meet-Cute, irresistibly romantic stories about finding love when and where you least expect it. They can be read or listened to in one sitting and are included with your Amazon Prime subscription.”
I have tried this extremely popular writing duo before, but their writing was too YA for me. But this Valentine’s Day novella, with its two narrators reading aloud the annual emails was an almost perfect “meet cute” despite some YA dialogue, and it was definitely one of my favorites in this delightful holiday series! ...more
If you are looking for a darkly comic, entertaining book-this one might fit the bill!
Things aren’t going very well for Gwen Turner.
She stil3.5 stars ✨
If you are looking for a darkly comic, entertaining book-this one might fit the bill!
Things aren’t going very well for Gwen Turner.
She still isn’t over her last boyfriend, Noah, and her best friend Sarah is getting married in a few days and moving out of their shared flat.
Gwen turns to the dating app, CONNECTOR, to help fill the void but so far all of her SWIPES have led to one disastrous date after another and the same end result-BLOCKING each match as soon as she can walk (run!) away!!
No one is more surprised than Gwen when a string of murders suddenly occurs in her small town and she learns from the Police that there seems to be only one connection between each of the victims—they’ve all been on a date with her-arranged through CONNECTOR.
She is suddenly the main SUSPECT and with the Police not really wanting to look elsewhere, she decides she will have to investigate on her own…
FOR THE MOST PART, this is a highly original, and really fun story which kept me amused-especially the chapters which give us the “fly on the wall” peek of what happened on each of her dates, and the two which share with us “what happened with Noah”.
It would have been a solid 4 stars if not for the slightly ridiculous and very OTT ending which let me down.
A buddy read with DeAnn. Did the ending work for her? Be sure to check out her amazing review!
Original Title: Don’t Swipe Right AVAILABLE NOW!!
Thank You to Gallery/Scout Press for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!...more
Five girls from Dublin University gathered at Loughview for a party to celebrate graduation. They had all shared a room with one another at one time oFive girls from Dublin University gathered at Loughview for a party to celebrate graduation. They had all shared a room with one another at one time or another, and had become the best of friends, over their four years there.
Sending their affirmations out to the Universe, during a beachfront ceremony, they shared what they all hoped the next ten years would bring..
Alex was hoping she would become a bestselling author, with a husband who was madly in love with her. Erin aspires to become a successful Actress married to the Actor, Andrew Scott Beth just wants to marry her University sweetheart, Paul and have two kids, a boy and a girl. Free Spirit Becky just wants happiness with a man or a woman. And, Tara who can’t commit to anything for long, hopes to find the stability she didn’t have growing up.
They PROMISE to always keep in touch.
28th July, 2022
LET’S SHAKE THAT CRYSTAL BALL and SEE HOW THEIR LIVES TURNED OUT!
Erin invites her friends for a ten year reunion, before she sells Loughview, the property she now owns. They haven’t kept in touch, but they all agree to come, as they weren’t very supportive when she lost her husband.
Three will bring partners. Alex will arrive SOLO, but excited about someone she met on the flight. Until that someone arrives as the guest of one of her friends. Uh oh!
This story is mostly told in the present day, with some flashbacks to their individual pasts to catch us up on what has been going on in their lives since they parted after graduation.
Can these women really pick up where they left off or have they grown apart for a reason?
Sometimes you need the people who KNEW you “back when” to REMIND you of who you once were and to give you the confidence to be that authentic person once again.
This was EXACTLY the kind of book that I was looking for after a couple of heavier reads- One that celebrates the power of lasting friendships and love, and one that is full of laughter, food and FUN!
I was immediately engaged with this adorable story, and invested in the outcome!!
Although this story takes place in Ireland, it has the same kind of feel as the U.S. TV shows “Friends” and “How I Met Your Mother” so fans of those Classic shows will enjoy spending time with this group too!
AVAILABLE NOW!!
Thank you to Bookouture for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!...more
“ Some people you know for a lifetime, but they never really make an imprint on your soul – and some people you only have to know for an instant, to k“ Some people you know for a lifetime, but they never really make an imprint on your soul – and some people you only have to know for an instant, to know they will be a part of you forever“
Ever since a car accident split her family apart, Holly has been participating in a holiday letter–writing club called “Dear Stranger”. Each December, she writes to an anonymous stranger who is also spending Christmas alone, and receives a letter from another anonymous stranger in return.
Usually, the letters go unanswered which is the point—since the letters are anonymous so that the senders will feel comfortable writing whatever is in their heart.
But this year, the letter Holly receives is different; not only is the letter full of a grief she is familiar with, but its writer, Emma, mentions a place that Holly had visited the last year that her family was to spend Christmas together, a coffee shop a couple of hours away from where she is currently living.
It’s the last place she spent time with her sister, Lily, and also the place where she had literally bumped into a handsome stranger named Jack that she had hoped to see again, carrying out a coffee cup with his phone number on it, that she would lose before she could call.
When she realizes that she just might be able to track down Emma, if she visits the coffee shop again- she sets out on a mission to meet her-and in turn, she may find even more than she expected to.
Emily Stone lost her own mother when she was young, so she knows firsthand how hard the holidays can be for those dealing with loss, whether it’s fresh, or in the past, and she is carving out a niche of tear-jerker Holiday Romances, which deal with loss.
Her signature style seems to include stories that make several jumps in time, endure MANY misunderstandings, and include therapeutic letter writing! ✍...more
They say there is a thin line between love and hate….
Quirky (and perky) Izzy Jenkins brings the “sparkle” to every room she enters. She is the 3.5 ⭐️
They say there is a thin line between love and hate….
Quirky (and perky) Izzy Jenkins brings the “sparkle” to every room she enters. She is the polar opposite of her co-worker, the serious, but sexy Brazilian, Lucas Da Silva.
But when Izzy puts her heart on the line, and confesses her true feelings to Lucas in a Christmas card-suggesting that they meet under the mistletoe-and arrives to find him kissing her roommate instead, she vows to NEVER forgive either one.
Now, embarrassed and humiliated, she admittedly “HATES” him.
Izzy and Lucas, will have to co-exist and put their differences aside, sharing all of the responsibilities of the day shift, when staff reductions are made at the struggling Forest Manor Hotel, while “Poor Mandy” will man the night shift on her own.
Covid lockdowns combined with the entire roof needing to be replaced have threatened the survival of the 40 year old hotel which boasts of quaint attic rooms, candlelit dinners and romance to the hotel guests who return year after year, and feel like extended family. This might be the last Christmas at the struggling property.
One thing the two can agree on however, is that they want the hotel to survive.
Tasked with clearing out the “lost and found” closet, and selling anything that may be of value, Izzy finds some wedding rings, but she feels it is only right to attempt to find the owners of these items before selling them.
And, when the first is returned to its grateful owner, and the hotel is given a substantial reward for their efforts, Izzy and Lucas, wager a friendly(?) competition to see who can successfully return the most rings.
Can either one of them “save” the hotel?
Izzy calling her friends to convince them how much she “hated” Lucas despite her attraction to him, made this ENEMIES TO LOVERS story read a bit YOUNG for me, but I do think it will resonate more with readers in a younger demographic, so I rounded up!
And, Beth O’Leary always manages to make me smile-there are definitely a few clever revelations that bring this Christmas story full circle by the end.
(I never have the willpower to wait when it’s Beth O’Leary!) This title is NOW AVAILABLE!
Thank You to Berkley for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review....more
As promised, Abby Jimenez has followed up “Part of your World” with Bri’s story, and as always, she delivers!
In fact, she just MAY have set a new recoAs promised, Abby Jimenez has followed up “Part of your World” with Bri’s story, and as always, she delivers!
In fact, she just MAY have set a new record by getting me to tear up for the FIRST time, at just about a third of the way into this story…
D-day (divorce is final) is rapidly approaching for Dr. Briana Ortiz, her brother, Benny is giving up on life-convinced the kidney donor he needs will never be found, thanks to his absent father giving him a rare blood type, and the new Doctor at her hospital, Jacob Maddox may be getting the promotion she wants.
He isn’t making the BEST first Impression.
Little does she know that he took the job at Royaume Northwestern to escape the pain of working at Memorial West with his brother, Jeremiah and his ex girlfriend, Amy, who are now engaged. It also doesn’t help that he suffers from “social anxiety” in new situations.
NEVER say NEVER…
So, he tries to right his first missteps by writing her a good old fashioned letter, as he is much better at expressing himself when he has time to think about his words-and a friendship is born. ✍...more
I am a sucker for a book about writers, and the writing process, so when I spotted this title, I didn’t mind that the synopsis sounded a lot like “BeaI am a sucker for a book about writers, and the writing process, so when I spotted this title, I didn’t mind that the synopsis sounded a lot like “Beach Read” (Emily Henry). It’s the same reason that I downloaded “The Writing Retreat” (Julia Bartz). I wanted to read about writing.
“Beach Read” delivered the friendly competition between writers that it promised, but “The Writing Retreat” seemed more focused on “sexual exploration”.
Unfortunately, THIS title more closely resembles “The Writing Retreat”.
Julia and Thomas were best friends in high school, who both wanted to be writers. She wrote smutty Fan Fiction back then, and he wanted to be a Rom-Com author.
It’s been twelve years since they have seen each other, but both are back in their home town, temporarily living with their parents. He is an author, who was living in N.Y. before coming home to care for his father who is dying from Lung Cancer, and she found out that her fiancé cheated just weeks before they were supposed to marry.
He wagers a friendly bet-rewatch their favorite Classic Rom-Coms, to help him with his writer’s block, and to give her hope that HEA does exist, and reignite her passion for writing. Whoever writes 50,000 words first-wins.
Nora is a screenwriter for a “romance channel” but despite writing about Happily Ever Afters, her own marriage is ending in divFRESH, FUN, FANTASTIC!
Nora is a screenwriter for a “romance channel” but despite writing about Happily Ever Afters, her own marriage is ending in divorce.
Instead of letting that get her down-she writes the BEST script of her life-and it’s picked up for the big screen. It will be filmed at her 100 year old home, since it’s called “The Tea House” and why replicate the setting when her house has the real thing-a one room structure in her backyard made of stone with a slate roof, a working fireplace, and gorgeous views of the woods beyond. It was built to honor the ritual of formal tea-but it is now the place where Nora writes.
Even better, when a former “sexiest man alive” Leo Vance, the highest paid leading man in Hollywood, is cast to play the role of her ex husband, the film is destined for success!
When the film wraps, Leo makes Nora an offer she can’t refuse-$1000 a day to stay on for a week. She needs the money-and he needs a place to be anonymous-a place to reset and refresh.
A lot can happen in a week-as the synopsis says…you can fall in love or you can have your heart broken…
Maybe, Nora will get a HEA of her own…
❤️
Nora is a relatable lead, who has imperfect hair, an ex husband and two young children, yet we have FINALLY been given a leading lady who doesn’t need to turn to alcohol to cope because she is FIERCE, FUNNY and FORMIDABLE. And, her kids aren’t baggage-they are a BONUS!
How refreshing is that?
I decided to read this book after LOVING her new one which I received as an ARC from the publisher. It’s called “Same Time Next Summer” and has an expected publication date of June 6, 2023.
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