The Romance Bookie

 Hey Everyone! Better late than never, but I'm so unbelievably behind on reviews, and there is just no way that I'm catching up this point, so I'm just going to start anew, and start reviewing again what I read.  I might go back and fill in reviews for books I read this year, later on, just so they can be added to my reviewed page. But that is for a later time.  Due to my recovery, I'm having more downtime, and I am getting some serious reading in this last week of 2022.  I ended up getting in a last minute book that I honestly almost didn't read after finally getting it from the waitlist at my local library; but am so glad I gave it a chance, because the ending made it become one of my favorites of 2022. So here is my review of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo  by Taylor Jenkins Reid. From Goodreads: From the New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & the Six - an entrancing and "wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet" (Pop...

 Happy Holidays! Wow, it's been a long time! Way too long!   As always life has been all-time consuming.  I have been focusing on The Romance Bookie's Instagram page more, since that is where blogging has led, more so than written blogs now-a-days.  But honestly, I miss my platform here.  I highly doubt people are reading these anymore, but I thought it would be nice to give an update. Did I read in 2022? Yes. Yes, I did.  In fact, I surpassed my reading goals.  I went into 2022 hoping to read at least 50 books, then moved it up to 75 mid-year, and now I'm super close to hitting that 100 mark.  I've got a week left, and I'm hopeful I can do it.  I haven't read 100 books in a year in a long time.  Probably before I met my husband 😅.  Now, here I am almost ten years into my relationship, we have a two-year-old wild child, and I have read almost a 100 books.   2022 was a year of focusing on myself, for the first time in a long ti...

 Hey! I'm so excited for this review!  I have been meaning to read this next book since it came out last year!  It took forever for my turn to come up at the library for this audiobook, after over a dozen weeks of waiting, I finally got it! So here is my review of The People We Meet On Vacation  by Emily Henry! From Goodreads: Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She's a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart--she's in New York City, and he's in their small hometown--but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.  Poppy has everythi...

 Hey Everyone! It's been a minute, and for once it isn't because I haven't been reading!  In fact, I have A LOT of catching up to do!  Like a lot! I have been reading a lot! In fact, every time I finish a book, I just roll right into the next one, instead of updating The Romance Bookie, working on the Bookstagram, or even updating my Always Fully Booked Planner.   So here goes the updating! This review is for Last Chance Books  by Kelsey Rodkey. From Goodreads: Don't you just love the smell of old books in the morning? Madeline Moore does. Books & Moore, the musty bookstore her family has owned for generations, is where she feels most herself. Nothing is going to stop her from coming back after college to take over the store from her beloved aunt. Nothing, that is--until a chain bookstore called Prologue opens across the street and threatens to shut them down.  Madeline sets out to demolish the competition, but Jasper, the guy who works over at Prologue...

 Hey Everyone! I've got another review for 2022!  I have been hearing so much about Sarah J. Maas, and just haven't had a chance to read anything by her; but I knew I needed to at some point!  Then, a couple of weeks ago I was going through the Hoopla App on my phone, and I saw that my local library offered the Court of Thorns and Roses series!  So I jumped on the chance, and checked out the first book in the series, titled the same.   So here is my review! From Goodreads: Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill - the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price... Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jeweled mask, is hiding far more th...

 Hey Everyone! Alright, time for the review of book 2 of the One of Us Is Lying series by Karen M. McManus, One of Us Is Next !   From Goodreads: Come on, Bayview, you know you've missed this.  A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one's been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts. Until now. This time it's not an app, though--it's a game. Truth or Dare. Phoebe's  the first target. If you choose to play, it's a truth. And hers is dark. Then comes Maeve  and she should know better--always choose the dare. But by the time Knox  is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it's that they can't count on the police for help. Or protection. Simon's gone, but someone's determined to keep his legacy at Bayview High al...

 Hey Everyone! I can't believe I forgot to write a review for this one!  It was so good!  I started listening to it while on my trip, and finished it last week!   One of Us is Lying , the first book in the series by the same name, by Karen M McManus.  From Goodreads: Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain , is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty , is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal , is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete , is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast , is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, w...

 Hey Everyone! So I have some catching up to do!  I went on vacation for the last three weeks, and we only got back on Sunday evening, so I haven't been in front of my computer until now.  We had a great time! We got to experience snow for the first time, like the most beautiful powdery white snow you can imagine during our trip to Raleigh, North Carolina, and then after spending a week there we flew to Florida to celebrate the 50th with Walt Disney World!  It was a lot of firsts for our son, including flying on an airplane, snow, and of course going to Walt Disney World, so it was all very exciting.  Albeit, a little stressful at times, but so worth it!   I am excited to be home again.  Just to have these quiet moments while my son is taking a nap, and being able to catch up on some things, feels nice.  Plus a little space never hurt anyone ;).   Anyway, during my trip I utilized the gyms in our hotel room, and during that alone time, I got ...

 Hey Everyone! I haven't had the opportunity to read an ARC in years, and this was my first time getting to listen to an ARC via audiobook, so it was pretty exciting.  Years and years ago I made a Netgalley account, and I honestly became horrible at keeping up with all the books I was requesting.  I just found out that Netgalley is doing audiobooks now too, and that got me very excited, because audiobooks and physical books are my jam!  So I am swearing to myself that I will only request one book at a time, so I make sure to actually review it! My first Netgalley review in many many years is for Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready which will be released on January 25th! From Goodreads: New Year's Resolution: Have a baby Preferably with Josh Lewenthal. Meet Gemma Jacobs. She's driven, energetic, and a positive thinker. She has a great career working for famed self-help guru Ian Fortune, she lives in a cute studio apartment in Manhattan, and her fa...

 Hey! Apparently January has become the month I catch up on Marissa Meyer's books!  I've been behind for a few years! And now with the access to my local libraries Audiobook database, I get that chance to catch-up!   I have Heartless on my shelf since its release in 2016, and just have never had a chance to read it, or honestly been in the mind set, because I rarely read fantasies at this point; so when it saw on the Libby App, I finally checked-it out via audiobook and began.   From Goodreads: Long before she was the terror of Wonderland -- the infamous Queen of Hearts -- she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen. Then Cath meets Jest, the ha...

 Hey! Here for another review! This one for the third book in the Dash and Lily  series, Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily  by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan! From Goodreads: For Dash and Lily, it's beginning to look a lot like...distance! Just in time for the series release of Dash & Lily on Netflix comes a new helping of love -- this time across the pond as best-selling authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan send Dash and Lily to England. Dash and Lily were feeling closer than ever...it's just too bad they're now an ocean apart. After Dash gets accepted to Oxford University and Lily stays in New York to take care of her dog walking business, the devoted couple are struggling to make a long distance relationship work. And when Dash breaks the news that he won't  be coming home for Christmas, Lily makes a decision: if Dash can't come to her, she'll join him in London. It's a perfect romantic gesture...that spins out of Lily's control. Soon Dash an...

 Hey Everyone! Another review coming your way! This one is of a book I found at the library a couple of weeks ago, and it was an absolute cover-read!  The cover caught my attention, and then once I read the inside flap, I knew this sounded like my kind of book! So here's my review of Recommended for You  by Laura Silverman! From Goodreads: To All the Boys I've Loved Before meets You've Got Mail  in this charming and hilarious rom-com following two teen booksellers whose rivalry is taken to the next level as they compete for the top bookseller bonus. Shoshanna Greenberg loves working at Once Upon, her favorite local bookstore. And with her moms fighting at home and beloved car teetering on the brink of death, the store has become a welcome escape. When her boss announces a holiday bonus to the person who sells the most books, Shoshanna sees an opportunity to at least fix her car, if none of her other problems. The only person standing in her way? N...

 Book #2 of 2022 ✔! Now it was a graphic novel, therefore a fun easy read for me, but still think I'm off to a great start in 2022!    I'm also so excited to have gotten my hands on this one early, because it technically isn't supposed to be released until tomorrow!  But for some reason my local Barnes and Noble already had copies sitting on the shelf, so I ended up sneaking into my pile during the 50% off hardbacks sale, even though this one was a paperback 😉. From Goodreads: Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between: this is the fourth volume of HEARTSTOPPER, for fans of The Art of Being Normal, Holly Bourne and Love, Simon. Charlie didn't think Nick could ever like him back, but now they're officially boyfriends. Charlie's beginning to feel ready to say those three little words: I love you. Nick's been feeling the same, but he's got a lot on his...

I finished my first book of 2022!!   And I did it on January 1st!! Now I did start it last week, when it was technically still 2021, but I still needed to read quite a bit when 2022 started, and after listening over 4 hours yesterday, I finally finished! Gilded , the first book in Marissa Meyer's new series! From Goodreads: Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantasical and spellbinding and entirely untrue. Or so everyone believes. When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods.  In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her...for a ...

  via GIPHY Happy New Year! I cannot believe it is 2022!  I feel like it was just yesterday that we were welcoming 2020 with the open arms of a gleeful child, only to be met with doom.  But 2022, is going to be better!  Positive thoughts everyone!  I know I am excited for some fun plans already coming up early this year.  For one, my husband and I are taking our son on his first plane ride and we are going to the Walt Disney World to celebrate the 50th anniversary of WDW!!  We are so unbelievably excited to show him one of our favorite places!  So it's hopefully already going to start off as a good year! But a new year also means new goals, new year resolutions, and sometimes even new beginnings for some!  For me this year, I would like to spend 2022 working on myself, especially my mental and physical health.  I hope to continue losing weight, start working out more, and keep up with what I have been doing.  Next, I would like to ...