#bluey's bookshelf 2022

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 7: Wolf Speaker by Tamora Pierce

I read this book for my friend @pools-of-venetianblue who loves this series from when she was a child. I don't really feel like it's fair for me, an adult, to review it the way I would an adult level book, because it's not written for adults.

However, as a parent, I can say that I would absolutely have my son read this book and the others in the series.

Book 12 was the next in the series: Emperor Mage

And Book 14 was the finale; Realms of the Gods

I highly recommend all five of the books in the series...the first is called Wild Magic (I read it last year) and they're all very enjoyable and engaging, if simply written, because they're for kids.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 15: Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was sold on this book because the BookTuber I heard about it from said it was like The Mummy...and if you don't love The Mummy I don't want to know you. I did enjoy this book immensely. However, I'm not sure I'll be reading anything else from this author simply because her writing style felt weird to me. It switched between multiple POVs and one POV we only got once and never saw again...and he was set up to be the villain. Like he totally disappeared from the plot after his POV. The romance was cute, the characters were lovely...though I did get tired of the FMC trying to explain away the MMC's smarts. He showed her over and over that he was intelligent but she just didn't want to see it. That was aggravating. It's not a reread for me...but I did enjoy it.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 22: Take A Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(I've decided I'm going to give you the blurbs for these books as well, since my reviews tend to not summarize them, mainly because I'm horrible at not spoiling things 😬)

Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom. When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and ex-rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Now half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out, his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse? Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf’s secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his... um, thighs. Suddenly, the easy lay Dani dreamed of is more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?

My Review:

"Major or minor, if something keeps you human when pressure makes you feel like a volcano, hold on to that thing by whatever means necessary."

Dani's hero, the person she looks up to, says this to her in a moment of uncertainty for Dani and it absolutely resonated so strongly with me. It applies to people, hobbies, items, anything that grounds you and it was such a necessary reminder for me in that moment. And this is one of the things I love most about reading, finding nuggets that speak to me and resonate for my day to day life.

This book was wonderful and I enjoyed it immensely. Zaf and Dani were incredibly well written and I loved their romance and the way they navigated their issues to end up together. It's a definite reread for me. It really is that simple. It was great. You should read it.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 17: The Little Prince by Antoine de Sainte-Exupery - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'd been meaning to read this book for a long time but had never gotten around to it. Then, at the end of January, I received some stickers that I'd ordered on Amazon for my journal and there were a few that had illustrations from the book on them. So I bought the book and read it in a hour and ended up crying for about two hours afterward.

The lessons in this book range from thoughts on the nature of time and how we waste it, capitalism and what it does to us as people, and the one that got me was the way we process grief.

When I was 23 my best friend in the world, and her children, were murdered by her husband. I don't talk about it often, but the loss of her refuses to leave me alone. It's been sixteen years and I think about her every day, wondering if she knew I loved her, wishing I could see her again, hating that she's gone and all of the dreams we shared will never happen. It's hard. It's really hard.

But this book...It broke me open, rearranged my grief, and gave me a new perspective.

AN EXCERPT:

"At night you'll look up at the stars. It's too small where I live, for me to show you where my star is. It's better that way. My star will be...one of the stars, for you. So you'll like looking at all of them. They'll all be your friends. And besides, I have a present for you." He laughed again.

"Ah, little fellow, little fellow, I love hearing that laugh!"

"That'll be my present. Just that...It'll be the same as for the water."

"What do you mean?"

"People have stars, but they aren't the same. For travelers, the stars are guides. For other people, they're nothing but tiny lights. And for still others, for scholars, they're problems. For my businessman, they were gold. But all those stars are silent stars. You though, you'll have stars like nobody else."

"What do you mean?"

"When you look up at the sky at night, since I'll be living on one of them, since I'll be laughing on one of them, for you it'll be as if all the stars are laughing. you'll have stars that can laugh!"

And he laughed again.

"And when you are consoled (everyone eventually is consoled), you'll be glad you've known me. You'll always be m y friend. You'll feel like laughing with me. And you'll open your window sometimes just for the fun of it."

Seriously...if you haven't read this book...read it. It's so worth it. I have no idea how an 84 page book, written for children, has changed the way I feel after living with sixteen years of grief, but it has. I hear her laughing on her star now...and I am consoled.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 13: Blindsided by Amy Dawes - ⭐⭐⭐

This book was cute enough, but the word choices were incredibly repetitive. All of the Scottish and British slang was overdone to the point of eye rolling. The FMC called the MMC a cow so many times I was annoyed by the middle of the book and, though I am American and therefore not exactly in the thick of British slang all day every day, I felt like it was kind of odd for a female character to be calling a male character a cow.

And don't even get me started on the number of times the MMC mentioned his "cocker". I've read many many many books with Scottish slang and I don't recall ever reading them referring to that body part with that word...though I'm happy to be wrong...someone from Scotland, please let me know.

It was cute enough, and the plus size representation was nice, though I was tired of the FMC character being so unable to believe that someone would find her attractive, even with all her friends and the man she's sleeping with praising her constantly.

It's not a reread, but I'm not mad that I read it. I read it because I was missing Ted Lasso and I hoped this would fill that void.

It didn't.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 8: The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon - ⭐⭐⭐

I really wanted to like this book. The representation, the idea, the setting, all great. But for some reason this one didn't really engage me. There wasn't anything wrong with the writing, it flowed well and I will absolutely be willing to read something from this author again. But I found that, unlike with other books I've read recently, I was easily able to put this one down and forget about it. And one day after finishing it, I can't even remember the names of the characters, aside from Ruthie, who was a secondary character, and who, I appreciated was cast as bisexual without it being a huge thing. It was just a line where she mentioned the man she'd stopped seeing and the woman she was thinking about going out with. I found that realistic and lovely and I wish other authors handled their LGBT characters that way. The female main character has been in public radio for ten years and it has become her identity after growing up with a father who loved radio and pretended to host radio shows with her all the time, but, despite her working in radio for ten years, she's never hosted a radio show (which wasn't made clear in the book blurb) because she doesn't have a "radio voice" this was a tiny little subplot that could have been a bigger thing, but it wasn't for some reason. It was mentioned a few times and then forgotten. The male main character was a fresh out of grad school hire and MUCH was made about the way he proclaimed his credentials every chance he got. I'm only now realizing that this was meant to be a commentary on how men are allowed to brag about their accomplishments and women aren't...I probably should have caught that sooner. That's on me. 😬 There were a few mentions of the MMC being Korean and the FMC being Jewish, and I enjoyed learning the little bits I learned about their cultures and what it was like growing up inside those cultures, but with exception of a scene where they visit the MMC's childhood home and meet his parents we don't really learn much about what life is like for him. There are a few mentions of what it felt like being the only Korean kid in school, but it was just mentions. Much more was given about the Jewish FMC and her culture (which is fine) and I just wish we'd learned more about his. Overall, not a terrible book, but it's also not one I'll reread in the future and that's how I choose to judge whether a book is good or not. There are some books I'm already excited to reread by the time I finish it, and this one I was just relieved to have finished. I will look for other titles from this author though, because I think there's potential for something wonderful from her and I hope I'm right.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 6: Beach Read by Emily Henry - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Listen...If you're not interested in seeing two characters work through some of their emotional baggage while also realizing they're falling in love with each other, this is not the book for you. January Anderson lost her beloved father about a year ago, since then her life has basically come crashing down around her. So she retreats to the beach house in Michigan that her father owned, that she only found out about after he passed away. One he shared with a woman other than January's mother. Living next door to her new beach house is Augustus Everett, the guy who, in all of her writing classes in college, spent his time critiquing her 'happily ever after" endings and whose head is so big he needs an entire ice machine to bring down the swelling. January has a book due in three months, emotional turmoil to sort through, as well as a beach house to clean out and put on the market, she doesn't have time for the egotistical boy next door, until...A dare is proposed. He'll write a book with a happily ever after, and she'll write a book without one. Whoever sells their book first will get public endorsements from the other. January agrees and the caveat is added that they have to "teach" each other the things they need to know to write the genre switch. And they have to try to stay away from each other while they do it. This book was incredible. I didn't think it could get any better than People We Meet On Vacation, but it did. I've seen the reviews from others that they were expecting fluff (there's definitely fluff) and that this book is too full of emotional angst and they were misled...but in my opinion, fluff is made fluffier by emotional stakes. Fluff for the sake of fluff is pointless. Give me some angst, leavened with a bit of fluff, and I'll show you a book so beautifully written, so sweet and lovely, that it's the first book I've EVER assigned five stars to before finishing it. It's definitely worth the read. Definitely worth the angst. And even though I borrowed it from my library, I'll be purchasing it as soon as I finish this review because I already know I want to reread it forever. Emily Henry just made herself a MUST BUY for me. And I can't be mad at it.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 4: People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I've been hearing about this one all last year, 2021, and some people have loved it, others have hated it. Myself, being a life long romance reader, I wasn't expecting much, which isn't always a bad thing. I just like a book to have realistic dialogue (people use contractions when they speak...if you don't use contractions in your dialogue, it's not realistic and I can't hear your characters talking in my head, but I digress) and a cohesive plot. This book had all of that and more. Poppy and Alex met at the age of 19 at their college orientation. He was stuffy and staid, she was bright and cheerful. It's almost grumpy/sunshine, but not quite, because Alex isn't grumpy, he's just reserved and quiet. Unless he's with Poppy. Over the years they start taking a trip together, every summer, until one year we're meant to understand that something happened that prevented them from speaking for two years. That's basically all I knew going into this book and that's really all you need to know. It's written in FP from Poppy's POV and her voice is refreshing and very funny. There were many laugh out loud moments in the book for me. Emily Henry's wit is wonderful to be sure. The story bounces between present (This Summer) and chapters that cover their other summer trips together, from the first they took when they were in college, all the way up to the one that left them not talking for two years. Usually I find this kind of formatting annoying and jarring and I find myself wanting to skip chapters to get to others...But I didn't feel that way with this book. Everything was interesting, everything was relevant. There's very little spice in the book. Though it's not quite a closed door romance. But the emotion and humor and connection between the characters was wonderful. It's definitely a reread for me.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 29: Married By Morning by Lisa Kleypas - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

He's everything she wants to avoid. For two years, Catherine Marks has been a paid companion to the Hathaway sisters—a pleasant position, with one caveat. Her charges' older brother, Leo Hathaway, is thoroughly exasperating. Cat can hardly believe that their constant arguing could mask a mutual attraction. But when one quarrel ends in a sudden kiss, Cat is shocked at her powerful response—and even more so when Leo proposes a dangerous liaison. She's not at all what she seems. Leo must marry and produce an heir within a year to save his family home. Catherine's respectable demeanor hides a secret that would utterly destroy her. But to Leo, Cat is intriguing and infernally tempting, even to a man resolved never to love again. The danger Cat tried to outrun is about to separate them forever—unless two wary lovers can find a way to banish the shadows and give in to their desires . . .

My Thoughts:

This book is one of my all time favorites. Though admittedly I don't think Kleypas can write a bad book. She's probably my top Comfort Author and by this point in the month I was overwhelmed and stressed and I just needed a comfort book. So I listened to this one via audiobook for the first time ever. I've read it countless times and always enjoyed it, and while it was lovely to listen to it, I didn't enjoy the narrator at all and ended up speeding the narration up to 3X just to get through it. I wouldn't normally do that with a book I'd never read before, but since I know this one so well, I felt safe to this time.

The story is sweet and one of the things I love most about it is the way Leo is already so completely head over heels for Catherine by the time the book opens. He's confused by her in the previous books (this is book 4 in a series that is perfection) and he basically gives himself over to his feelings for her as soon as the book opens. He knows he wants to kiss her and be with her all the time and he just has to convince her to feel safe enough around him to be willing to reciprocate and he's so sweet with it. Leo is one of my favorite book heroes and I flat out adore him so when I need comfort...He's who I turn to. I wish more people talked about this book. But that's okay...I will.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 28: Follow by Tessa Bailey - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

He wants her soul. Too bad she already sold it.

Family is everything to gambling den darling, Teresa Valentini. Blood comes first, especially before men. So when her brother lands himself in hot water, she's willing to do whatever it takes to save him. And showing up topless in her unwitting savior's motel room is turning out to be the furthest thing from a hardship... Will Caruso is the bad boy of New York's financial scene...and he just found out the very thing that drives his success is a damn lie. Now, he's exchanged his high-stress life for the open road, no one but his Great Dane...and half a million Instagram followers to keep him company. When a mysterious beauty arrives, her secrecy prods his suspicions, even while she tempts his lust to the breaking point. Teresa met Will under false pretenses, but the bond consuming them is real. They're strong enough to overcome a little betrayal...aren't they?

My Thoughts:

So...I read this book because I needed something quick (it's only 192 pages) and something that could be considered pure smut to fulfill a Book Bingo challenge. This fit the bill. But, there was a little bit of plot with the smut and the plot was actually really good, though it could have been better. There were a few plot holes and I don't feel like we spent enough time with Resa's brother to really establish WHY she was so desperate to save him, or why she cared about him. Honestly, from the way he was written I was so frustrated with his entitlement that if it had been me I'd have ridden off into the sunset with Will and the dog and forgotten all about my twatty little brother...But, Resa didn't.

I did really like Will, and the way he went with the flow and tried to take care of Resa without being overbearing and listen...the man and his dog was just adorable. I'm not going to reread it...but I'm not mad I did.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 27: Love At First Spite by Anna E. Collins - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

They say living well is the best revenge. But sometimes, spreading the misery seems a whole lot more satisfying. That’s interior designer Dani Porter’s justification for buying the vacant lot next to her ex-fiancé’s house…the house they were supposed to live in together, before he cheated on her with their Realtor. Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind and b) prove that Dani is not someone to be stepped on. Welcome to project Spite House. That plan quickly becomes complicated when Dani is forced to team up with Wyatt Montego, the handsome, haughty architect at her firm, and the only person available to draw up blueprints. Wyatt is terse and stern, the kind of man who eats his sandwich with a knife and fork. But as they spend time together on- and off-site, Dani glimpses something deeper beneath that hard veneer, something surprising, vulnerable, and real. And the closer she gets to her goal, the more she wonders if winning revenge could mean losing something infinitely sweeter…

My Thoughts:

This book was cute and funny, if a tiny bit convoluted. I liked that the MMC has a health issue but I feel like the issue with the FMC and her view on her mother and how that affected her view of relationships could have been explained a bit more, maybe shown instead of but told. There was a lot more to mine there that would have given us a better understanding of her reticence.

Not going to lie...I wish there'd been a bit more spice...but I'm a sucker for the emotional fall out from things getting spicy so it's less about the spice and more about how it advances the plot. There was some...but it wasn't terribly spicy.

Overall though, very cute story and I'm very glad I chose to listen to it instead of reading it physically. I think that really enhanced my enjoyment of the story.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 26: To Love Jason Thorne by Ella Maise - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jason Thorn… My brother’s childhood friend. Oh, how stupidly in love with that boy I was. He was the first boy that made me blush, my first official crush. Sounds beautiful so far, right? That excitement that bubbles up inside you, those famous butterflies you feel for the very first time—he was the reason for them all. But, you only get to live in that fairytale world until they crush your hopes and dreams and then stomp on your heart for good measure. And boy did he crush my little heart into pieces. After the stomping part he became the boy I did my best to stay away from—and let me tell you, it was pretty hard to do when he slept in the room right across from mine. When tragedy struck his family and they moved away, I was ready to forget he ever existed. Now he is a movie star, the one who makes women of all ages go into a screaming frenzy, the one who makes everyone swoon with that dimpled smile of his. Do you think that’s dreamy? I certainly don’t think so. How about me coming face to face with him? Nope still not dreamy. Not when I can’t even manage to look him in the eye. Me? I’m Olive, a new writer. Actually, I’m THE writer of the book that inspired the movie he is about to star in on the big screen. As of late, I am also referred to as the oh-so-very-lucky girl who is about to become the wife of Jason Thorn. Maybe you’re thinking yet again that this is all so dreamy? Nope, nothing dreamy going on here. Not even close. To Love Jason Thorn is a full-length standalone, which also contains some pretty hot and descriptive sex scenes. *winks*

My Thoughts:

I got off to a rough start with this one, the author didn't use contractions, which is a HUGE pet peeve of mine because it makes everything sound robotic. My solution to this was to increase the speed of the narration to 2x and that helped.

In the end, I ended up really loving the story. It was witty and fun and sexy as heck and I already love the brothers best friend trope so much, but combine it with a Hollywood romance and I'm over the moon. I definitely enjoyed the conflicts and how none of it was really caused by the main characters themselves, just situations they found themselves in that had to be dealt with.

It was refreshing and interesting...I just wish authors would read their work out loud to themselves so they could hear how crazy it wounds without contractions.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 25: The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A first-rate scoundrel. A desperate wallflower. Lessons in seduction. The woman no one notices . . . Shy heiress Alice Lusk is tired of being overlooked by every bachelor. Something has to change, else she’ll be forced to marry a man whose only desire is her fortune. She needs to become a siren, a woman who causes a man’s blood to run hot . . .and she’s just met the perfect rogue to help teach her. He’s the life of every party . . . Christopher “Kit” Ward plans to open a not-so-reputable supper club in New York City, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to hire the best chef in the city to guarantee its success. Even if it requires giving carnal lessons to a serious-minded spinster who has an in with the chef. Their bedroom instruction grows passionate, and Alice is a much better pupil than Kit had ever anticipated. When the Society gentlemen start to take notice, Kit has to try to win Alice in other ways . . . but is he too late to win her heart?

My Thoughts:

I really only have one gripe with this book, but it's a rather large one for me. The dialogue was missing contractions. People don't actually talk that way. They use contractions, otherwise their conversations are too formal and robotic. It's a fairly large pet peeve of mine, and I hate discovering it in a book that was otherwise wonderful.

And I really did love this book. I loved the main characters, I loved the romance. It definitely wasn't perfect but I felt for them. It was super cute and sweet and though it was VERY modern for a HR...I didn't really mind.

Would definitely recommend.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 24: She Tempts The Duke by Lorraine Heath - ⭐⭐⭐

Three young heirs, imprisoned by an unscrupulous uncle, escaped—to the sea, to the streets, to faraway battle—awaiting the day when they would return to reclaim their birthright. Sebastian Easton always vowed he would avenge his stolen youth and title. Now back in London, the rightful Duke of Keswick—returning from battle a wounded, hardened, changed man—cannot forget the brave girl who once rescued him and his brothers from certain death. Lady Mary Wynne-Jones paid dearly for helping the imprisoned young Lords of Pembrook, and she remembers well the promise she made to Sebastian all those years ago: to meet him once more in the abbey ruins where they shared a bold, forbidden kiss. While Mary is betrothed now to another, a friendship forged with dark secrets cannot be ignored. Unexpected passion soon burns dangerously between them, tempting Sebastian to abandon his quest for retribution to fight for a love that could once again set him free.

My Thoughts:

Three stars is GENEROUS and I only went that high because I usually enjoy this author.

This book could have been so much better. The premise could have been so incredible...but alas. Every character in this book was two dimensional. There was no substance in any of the main characters and the only one's I was truly interested in were the brothers, but I'm not so interested that I'll keep reading the series because I'm terrified they'll all be boring snoozefests like this one.

The hero learned lessons, then forgot those lessons as soon as the page was turned, and while I understand he was sensitive about his scars...DUDE...GET OVER IT.

The heroine was strong only when necessary, when it served the plot for her to be, not because she had any real spine. She was a total Mary Sue with no flaws and while I don't require my heroines to be insanely flawed, it would have been nice for her to have some conflict as well.

Overall, I chose to give this three stars but it probably should have been a DNF for me. I only finished it because of the author and a ridiculous hope that it would get better. It didn't.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 23: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It's time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she's not entirely sure how… Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right. Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.

My Review:

It took me a little bit longer to warm up to this book than it did for me to get into the other two in this series. Maybe because the MMC started out so harsh and it took a while for me to vibe with him or maybe because it felt much slower and that was unexpected because I figured I'd resonate with Eve much more than I did with Chloe or Dani, since Eve struck me as neurodivergent from the first glimpse of her in Chloe's book...I've got ADHD and I've really enjoyed seeing my neurodivergence represented in fiction since I've learned this.

With all of that being said, it definitely wasn't a terrible book, not by any means and I did absolutely enjoy it, it's just that, compared to the other two it felt a little lackluster, though the first spicy scene was very well written.

I would still absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for representation for neurodiversity and do plan to reread it myself. It was lovely, just not as lovely as the other two in the series.

[blueysbookshelf]

2022 Book 21: Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items? • Enjoy a drunken night out. • Ride a motorcycle. • Go camping. • Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex. • Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage. • And... do something bad. But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job. Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit. But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…

My Review:

I'd been seeing this series recommended by a few of the BookTok and BookTube people that I follow, so when I reached the end of my current TBR I decided to give this series a go.

I was not disappointed.

This book was so much better than I was expecting really. Representation, gender flipped DV awareness, a Black heroine with chronic illness that was written in such a way as to really help you empathize with those who live with this kind of illness daily.

The characters were quirky, funny, loveable and sweet and the spicy scenes were :chefs kiss: though some of the word choices weren't exactly my cup of tea...however, I over looked it because I loved everything else.

I absolutely will be rereading this one.