The Romance Bookie

 Hey Everyone! Time for another review!  This one I listened to the other day, because I needed a break from my current main audiobook.  I'm currently listening to Spare  by Prince Harry, the memoir he released a couple of weeks ago, and while I am finding it good, I was in the mood for a rom-com, during my afternoon off the other day.  So Ali Hazelwood's novella Under The Roof , seemed like the perfect little read to fill my time! From Goodreads: A scientist should never cohabitate with her annoyingly hot nemesis -- it leads to combustion. Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always.  Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn... As an environmental engineer, Mara knows all about the delicate nature of ecosystems. They require balance. And leaving the thermostat alone....

 Hey Everyone! I've got some catching up to do!  Hopefully, more reviews will be up very soon, as I've got a list of ones I need to read, for some of the books I've read this year.   I know I am late to the game, but a friend and I have decided to start our little book club together, and for our first book we chose A Good Girl's Guide to Murder  by Holly Jackson. This one has been on my radar for a few months now, mainly because of finding my love for YA Murder-Mystery/Thrillers last year.  I understand, it's been hyped about for quite some time now, but I finally got to find out why. From Goodreads: For readers of Kara Thomas and Karen McManus, an addictive, twisty crime thriller with shades of Serial  and Making a Murderer  about a closed local murder case that doesn't add up, and a girl who's determined to find the real killer -- but not everyone wants her meddling in the past. Everyone in Fairview knows the story. Pretty and popular high school sen...

 Hey Everyone! Happy New Year! I can't believe we are already on day 5 of the New Year, but here we go! I just finished my third book of 2023, and am thoroughly enjoying this time off to recuperate after a surgery I had a couple of weeks ago, and getting lots of time to work on my planner and read! For today's review I have a new release!   Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman, which was just officially released this past Tuesday!  I was able to find a copy last week during the annual 50% off hardcovers sale at Barnes and Noble, so I was super excited to have it in my hands early.  I love the Heartstopper series, and am looking forward to the last volume, set to hopefully release next month?  Not sure though if that's official, because there still isn't a cover, and it's hard to believe an author could have two releases within such a short time...but weirder things have happened, and I'm really hoping the last volume comes out next month, because I'm looking fo...

 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 ...