peedsreads's reviews
483 reviews

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was really cute! From the beginning I was enthralled!!! Then if we're being honest the middle kind of dragged and fell flat for me, but then the end had me actually caring about soccer and loving the characters again!

I do think such obvious undiagnosed ADHD and Autism was a choice in the characters, but it also made them very real and relatable. And it was sort of addressed satisfactorily eventually.  The only part of that which was unbelievable was that woke-queen-Phoebe addicted to tik tok hadn't found ADHD tick tock yet, and that she still had so much stigma with the disorder internalized.

But yay for a giddy, spicy, sapphic sports romance!
The Right Move by Liz Tomforde

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It took me OVER A YEAR to read it, but I did it!!! I got like 80% there for book club last year and then lost momentum after discussing the book (and ending) in depth.  But now I was motivated to force through so I can get to Play Along (I just have to read Caught Up first).

This really is a book about two PERFECT characters.

Indy is perfectly relatable and I'm obsessed. I remember reading Mile High and falling for Stevie, thinking THIS IS REAL. THIS IS ME. but then Indy came along and BAM!

Ryan is the perfect book boyfriend. I totally understand why he's everyone's favorite, but the suspension of disbelief went just a little too far for me that it pulled me out of the book.  He was amazing, what fantasies are made of, and low key boring.  WHOOPS!

But I love the couple, I love Liz's writing, and I even though it took me more than a year to read it, I loved the pacing and ups and downs. It felt indie in that it felt like a year in the life and not just one set plot arc that cookie cutter wrapped up.  Like a real relationship.
The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! It wasn't as "binge-able" as Fangirl Down, but had a similar giddy feeling!

This is top-shelf Tessa Bailey! I swear her men are deeper in therapy with each book!

The final act is when it really fell apart for me, but as it was an unedited arc, maybe that was all tidied up before publishing.

Would recommend if you're looking for a 0-100 steamy hockey/nanny/age gap/forced proximity/opposites attract/boy obsessed/he falls first romance set in Boston!!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the free arc in exchange for an honest review.
Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

bra-vo Brynne. bra-freaking-vo.

If Taylor Swift puts narcotics into all of her songs, Brynne puts them in all her books.  The magic of her dark romantic comedies is truly remarkable.

If you liked Hit Man, DEFINITELY read Leather & Lark.

The way the timelines of the three books overlap in this series is so intriguing and unique. I can't wait to see where the next one goes.  Fionn and Rose are already setting up camp in my heart.

NO THIRD ACT BREAK UP!!!! and it's so hot.

Just like Butcher & Blackbird it's a slowwww burn, but then it's a bloody inferno.

FERAL
Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

 Hannah Bonam-Young did it again. Y'all told me this was a book that would make you okay with the pregnancy trope... you didn't prepare me for how freaking goooooood it is!!!

This is also the first novel I've read with amputation representation I'm pretty sure, and DEFINITELY the first book I've read with a small hand. Everything was handled so purposefully, and just well done.

Win and Bo are my everything now. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It's super hot! and also laugh out loud funny. I don't think I've ever giggled or gasped this much at a book in the office. I didn't touch it for a couple weeks between the first 2/3 and the last 1/3 and it was strange how immediate the giggling started again and Will would just look over like wtf dude. 
Say Yes to the Duke by Eloisa James

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I do love this series and how Eloisa writes these men down bad

Viola’s social anxiety was mad refreshing. I like the theme in these books where the women are like “blast it. He’s not an option for me anyway so let me just be myself” and then they’re unfiltered irresistible 
Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really need to start a shelf of books with "peace" by Taylor Swift vibes because YES!

I LOVE THIS BOOK! I really hated how much internalized shame there was around female pleasure and sexuality.  Like a different level than the "purity culture" most historical romances have. But then when she entered her reputation era it hit that much harder!!!

I might like this one better than the first?

IDK, but definitely have a favorite Eloisa James series now!!!
Born to Be Wilde by Eloisa James

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I picked this up because Eloisa James made a reel about this book being on Review Geek's "10 Best Historical Romance Novels of All Time" list (linked below), so naturally I picked it up.  Eloisa James historical fiction books have been hit or miss with me, so I was excited to know a good one to grab. (Although Lizzie & Dante, the contemporary novel she published as Mary Bly is sooooooo good and I won't shut up about it.)

Anyway it was a rough start... I was listening and thinking how is this on that list? It's not just not good, it's bad.  Well I swear the first half and the second half were DIFFERENT BOOKS! It's on me for jumping in to the middle of the series, but it was hard to understand who the main characters even were and what their existing relationship was.  But then you get it.  They're not friends.  BUT BOY DID I FALL HARDER THAN PARTH DID FOR LAVINIA!

last night I didn't take my earbuds out until I finished it, and I really wanted to read Leather and Lark or watch Castle. I loved the characters and DEFINITELY need to listen to the next one because the Jeremy & Betsy angst was angsting and I loved the premise that they set up in the last chapter.

Not my favorite book, but definitely lives up to the hype and I understand how it could make a top ten of all time list (edited by someone else).  All I'll say is if you're not feeling it in the beginning, continue on because boy did it take a turn.

I just loved how self-aware Lavinia was of her needs in a husband.  And that she flipped the switch of "he's going to think I'm ridiculous no matter what so I'm just going to be myself and he can buzz off" which then made him fall even more and grown to UNDERSTAND and love and respect the parts of her she hid behind as frivolities in the past.  UGH

https://www.thereviewgeek.com/10books-historicalromancenovels/
Ladies' Day by Lisa Williams Kline

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emotional lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have been wanting golf books for a long time now, and here I have been blessed with two in one year.  While this was not the steamy, hot, tear-your-glove-off romance I'd been manifesting (I can thank [author:Tessa Bailey|6953499] granting that wish with [book:Fangirl Down|150343880]), this did have some on-the-course romance while diving deeper into the lifestyle of amateur golfers.

Beth's quest for her daughter, and now grand-daughter was interesting and I was rooting for them throughout, but it just wasn't really my jam. It's a bit of a downer in how true-to-life it is.  Beth is not over her ex-husband, she has a thin relationship with her son because of how he became second fiddle to her search for her runaway daughter in his youth, her new beau can't commit because of his own family commitments to his son, and it's just bleh.

I didn't need a cheesy happily ever after for an extremely complicated web of characters, but I would have loved for Beth to have been able to move on with Barry and for Sky's father to get a little more appreciation.  I think he was the real hero of this story and he's just treated like trash.

I don't really know how I feel about this book, but I did love the golf elements.  I could see this being expanded into a really strong family drama film or series.

Thank you NetGalley and CamCat Books for the free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 I loved the plus size rep and the insecurities and experiences our FMC had. I loved the big hunky football player falling first and falling HARD for our curvy & nerdy librarian. Mainly I really enjoyed Gabriella Gamez's voice. Her sense of humor and bookish references were on point. (and her spicy scenes were HOTTOGO)

However the story was not my favorite thing. A lot of the drama and conflicts felt overly dramatic, juvenile, and unrealistic. A lot of drama, descriptions, and internal monologues were stretched out and repetitive to the point that I put this book down multiple times (it took me 4 months to finish it). (the first third I plowed through like cotton candy - I eat cotton candy really fast).

While this did not end up being my favorite book, I am excited to read the next book from Gabriella Gomez. I mean she had me falling for a blond man. Theo really scratched that itch of "I'm looking for a man in love with my body, who is tall, buys me books"

thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.