joinreallife's reviews
1379 reviews

This is my third Katee Robert book and I think I'm just coming around to her stories not really being for me. And that's okay! Not every story is for everyone! I enjoy following her on TikTok though. Electric Idol is a real good news/bad news situation for me. There are things I really like about this: the fat rep, though it got to feel a bit self-flagellating after a bit, as a fat person; lots of diversity in sexual orientation, especially bi/pan leads that still end up in m/f relationships without it invalidating their queerness). The sex scenes are very hot. Katee Robert can write a sex scene, I tell you what. But I also just do not jibe with how dark the world here is and how manipulative the machinations are. I think the thing that bugs me the most is that it's not unrealistic and I just want some escapism in my romances these days. So though these, taken at a net value, do not spark joy for me, I totally get it and am not yucking anyone's yums for enjoying these. (P.S. I still don't get how the naming works...)

Well, I actually finished this one, which was more than I could do with Desperate Measures which was just very not for me. Credit where it's due, this was very hot. It was steamy fluff. I don't think the worldbuilding was very fleshed out - specifically the naming conventions. Like, Demeter wasn't always Demeter, it's really more of a title than a name, but she named her daughter Persephone so was that like a hopeful naming? Perseus becomes the new Zeus so then does he have to have a son called Zeus? Aphrodite hasn't always been Aphrodite but she just happens to have a son called Eros? I didn't understand what the intention was there, and I got more hung up on it than I maybe should've. But it was a good way to spend a few hours, I cannot deny. 

Well, this book is about Jesse, the eldest Pleasant brother, and is also the Beauty and the Beast retelling so it's no surprise that it's probably my favourite.

Jesse Pleasant is the strong, silent type, with an undercurrent of "the secret is I'm always angry" Hulk in him. When he walks into his grandmother's house to find her in flagrante with her new beau, his temper gets the better of him, and his menace leads to said new beau injuring himself. Cue Lily-Grace, whose father is the beau in question. She's recently back in town after her tech job imploded because she called out sexual harassment, and to add insult to injury, her boyfriend didn't support her in it. So she's already primed, and Jesse's actions just turn on the nozzle of anger. But their mutual anger is a sign of sparks in other ways, and after understanding each other better and making amends about past hurts, they initiate a li'l quid pro quo: Jesse will help Lily-Grace learn to swim, and Lily-Grace will help Jesse learn to...well, you know. As you might imagine, feelings develop, and sweetness ensues.

This is such a great example of how you can have a romance with external conflict that doesn't involve a third act breakup for stupid reasons, and I am here for it. Perhaps it's because Jesse starts therapy after Lily-Grace's father gets injured, but they just are so good at communicating and being open, like grown-ass adults, and it's refreshing to see. Jesse has a layer of anger, but he starts unpacking that in therapy and addressing it, and he's also just so vulnerable despite having been hurt in the past. I always appreciate representations of people in their 30s and 40s who are not as experienced, especially when it presents an opportunity to have a "teach me" scenario. And you know what, even though it makes me very jealous, I also love to see people with money spoil each other with extravagant gifts. The gift-giving was the result of a conversation about love languages, but it wasn't the depth of their expressions of love for each other. Jesse conquering his decades-long fear of horses to get back in the saddle so he can go on trail rides with Lily-Grace warmed my shriveled little heart. The pacing towards the end was a bit abrupt for me, but overall, this was so wonderful and lovely. I continue to adore Rebekah Weatherspoon and everything she writes.

Additionally, give me Lilah and Doc's romance pronto, please.

Content warnings for discussion of past sexual harassment

 I gotta say, I did not expect my reaction to this book. It made me surprisingly emotional. It's an age-appropriate look at some incredibly challenging times for three preteens. Georgia is our main character, who is taking care of a bearded dragon called Freddy. Her mom left her and Georgia's dad nearly two years ago to run off with a man called Lyle and she now has a new baby, Rosie. When Georgia's mom Blythe returns to town with her new family, and her continually unpredictable and harmful behavior, George struggles with the sense of abandonment she felt, navigating how to spend time with her mom and her new sister while feeling bad about leaving her dad and Freddy. This was definitely tough to read at times, as Blythe is certainly manipulative when it comes to Georgia's feelings. At the same time, Rosie's super intelligent best friend Maria is managing her household of seven kids with the help of her abuela and her big brothers, taking care of her three younger sisters because her parents have abdicated their parenting for the summer to move into the trailer in the backyard. Georgie and Maria are also becoming friends with a new boy, Roland, whose father is incarcerated and his mother was deemed "unfit" so he's just counting the days until his older brother is released from juvie and comes to get him from the foster family that is trying to love him fiercely, despite his walls. Georgia's dad killed me, he's such a sweet gentle man, and it's so lovely to see that portrayal of fatherhood. It's a difficult book to read, but addresses the reality of some family situations with care and thoughtfulness. The ending was very sweet. I honestly loved this.

This was a well-researched and scholarly/academic reexamination of our understanding of the animosity between four monarchical-connected women who were ruling at the same time: Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I, Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots), and Catherine de Medici. The central thesis is incredibly intriguing and I think a testament to the different perspectives we get in academic thinking when we expand the scope of WHO is doing the analysis. The glances at, for example, how the gifts these women gave each other hinted at less hostility and more attempts at friendship, camaraderie, and peace were compelling. However, these pieces never really coalesced for me, unfortunately, feeling rather unfocused in many places to me. There was a point only mentioned in the epilogue that better supported the thesis than many others in the majority of the book. Why?There was also a good chunk of the last part of the book dedicated to Philip II (Mary Tudor's husband and, later, Catherine de Medici's son-in-law) because "he ACTUALLY ruled the whole world." Like, what? Okay, I guess. Quilligan even called out herself that it was strange she was addressing this in a book ostensibly focused on four women, but then proceeded to do so anyway. I get wanting to look at that moment in history holistically, EXCEPT that's not the stated purpose of the book. I had high hopes for this one, and I think there was some solid analysis and historical interrogation here, but overall I think it didn't quite live up to its promise.

Also, I'm not going to judge this too harshly or include it in my rating consideration, because I read an arc of the book, but there was a story retold almost verbatim about Mary Stuart being abducted and raped by her third husband, so that just felt like the editing hadn't quite been finished or something. I'm not sure what happened there, but it left me with some unenjoyable deja vu. 

Okay, this was so fun! Not that I didn't expect it to be, but anthologies can be so hit or miss and this one, by and large, was a hit! The perpetually positive part of anthologies is that there's almost always something for everyone depending on your particular faves.

If we're going to split out each of the stories here, I gave Suzanne Enoch's "Great Scot" 4.5 stars. I vaguely recalled that I had read one of her books before, and it was actually a book in the same series in which this is an installment, though I read #3 in the series not realizing it was the third in the series! Anyway, this one was candy just for me. An older (for the time period) unmarried heroine, a dashing one-eyed widower architect who plans to build her a dream library? Sign me right up. I appreciated how forthright and communicative they were, which is a thing you're more able to do when you plant your hero and heroine into their particular circumstances. I loved the big family vibes as well. Lovely.

I gave Amelia Grey's "Christmas at Dewberry Hollow" a solid 3 star. I don't think it's one that will stay with me, but it gave me "Hallmark movie in Regency era" vibes, and who doesn't want that during the holiday times? (By which I mean, the day after Labor Day to mid-January, lol) Set in a small town at an inn, the hero Gate brings his grandfather to help him honor the last request of his dying wife: to find the tree they carved a heart into decades earlier and tie her ribbon around it. But Gate wasn't anticipating Isabelle, the feisty, independent daughter of the inn owner, who shakes up his plans in the best way. It has a little bit of holiday magic, and while there's definitely chemistry, nothing is too explicit or descriptive, including a fade-to-black sex scene. Very Hallmark, in the best way!

And I gave Anna Bennett's "My Mistletoe Beau" a full five stars and definitely plan to keep an eye out for her work in the future! I had never read anything from her before, and what a delightful introduction. This is my favourite of the possible outcomes of an anthology - coming away with a new-to-you author on your radar! This one truly hit my romance book bingo: historical, fake dating, very steamy, low-ish angst, good communication. Eva is caught breaking into rakish earl Jack's house to steal back a beloved and sentimental pocket watch that her father lost to him in a card game. In a surprising turn of events, Jack has basically been lying to his grandmother about courting someone in order to get her to leave him alone a bit, and he proposes that Eva pose as said person he's courting in order to get the pocket watch back. But then they catch feelings! I love how much control Eva is allowed to have in this relationship - they're very communicative about where they're both at, how things are progressing, but she's the one who is bold enough to ask for more on the physical side. Their banter is super cute, and the cozy holiday vibes are high, especially towards the end. It's pretty low drama, although there is reasonable conflict, and I just loved it so much.

Overall, a holiday historical romance anthology that offers something for everyone, but a little something extra for folks who like similar things to me.