I’ve read and/or listened to several books in recent weeks and thought a quick round up would be perfect. Two of these are WAY hyped and absolutely delivered for me. Two are sports romances that I adored, and one is an unfortunate DNF. Here we go…

Hyped and Loved

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas was a super A+ awesome read. This entire series is all over TikTok and I feel like I’ve found my tribe. The ACOTAR books started as fun, adventurous YA reads with romance, but now have ramped up into hot and steamy goodness with a fabulous plot. Cassian and Nesta are straight fire. Going into the book, I wasn’t into Nesta. Honestly, not sure who really liked her. In fact, I wasn’t excited to read this book. She was that much of a turn off. She didn’t deserve Cassian. I stand completely corrected on that score. If you haven’t been sucked into the world of ACOTAR yet, start with A Court of Thorns and Roses and blast through them now.  

Grade A+

Amazon | Goodreads

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab has been EVERYWHERE the past year. I bought it awhile back and just didn’t have the energy to start it, but grabbed the audible and took it on my daily walks for a couple of weeks. On the audio side first- I loved the narrator! Narrators can kill even the best of stories and she was terrific. I still think about the story and Addie’s life. The quick summary- Addie is a young French woman from the 1700’s who is supposed to get married and doesn’t want to. She wants to live and experience life, not get tied down. She prays to the Gods and the God of Darkness answers her. He’s not the one she was hoping to see. Oops. He does answer her prayers to live forever, but the curse is that no one will remember her. Once a person meets her, she’s quickly forgotten. She can meet a guy, have a wonderful time, sleep in his bed and he wakes up and wonders who the girl is in his bed. Here’s the deep theme that emerged for me, even though no one remembers her, she impacts history, art, music in multiple ways. People can’t say her name, they can’t take her photo, but the world becomes a better place because of Addie LaRue. 

Grade A+

Amazon | Goodreads

Sweet and Adored

Not my Match by Ilsa Madden-Mills was an easy, swoon worthy read with another heroine I wasn’t sure I’d like based on the first book in this series. And, a guy, Devon, who I knew I loved. Not My Romeo is book one and not necessary to read ahead of this book. BUT, you do learn in book one that Giselle, the h, cheated with her sister’s boyfriend. Not cool. Her sister found a much better guy, an NFL quarterback, and this book is about that guy’s friend Devon with Giselle. Got it? Giselle does have tremendous remorse over her actions and is surprise…a 24-year old virgin. She becomes friends with Devon and enlists him to help her find a guy who can take her V card. A few things- Giselle is brilliant. She’s a scientist and has big career plans. She is also a writer of alien romances. I, too, love alien romances. She uses her knowledge of science to write them correctly when it comes to space travel, physics, etc… There’s a fire in Giselle’s apartment and Devon invites her to live with him temporarily. Witty banter, smart heroine, kind “I used to be a player but now want only you” hero and a fun cast of characters from Giselle’s small Southern hometown make this an enjoyable book. 

Grade A

Amazon | Goodreads

Little Lies by H. Hunting is set in the hockey world of the Pucked series. It can be read as a standalone. The h, Lavender, was abducted when she was a young child. She wasn’t assaulted and was rescued quickly, but it was definitely traumatic. As a result, her family is uber protective of her and she’s been in therapy for years. Post assault, Kody a friend of her brother’s, was her main comfort.They were just friends, but developed a co-dependent relationship. Kody always needed Lavender to be ok, has some control issues and she loved the way he made her feel safe. Fast forward many years, some unfortunate miscommunications and awkward entanglements. Lavender and Kody are both at the same college and very much attracted to each other. Very angsty, heartbreaking, sweet, and funny. If you’re a fan of Hunting’s other hockey romance books, you’ll enjoy catching up with the players, wives and families.  

Grade A

Amazon | Goodreads

This DNF pains me….

Wicked All Night by Jeanine Frost just didn’t grab me. I tried so hard. This author has been a favorite of mine in the past. I think it’s been so long since I’ve invested myself in Night Huntress/Night Rebel world that I couldn’t remember the characters, storylines, etc…