Skip to main content

The World Doesn’t Need Another Book Blog

But my tired brain can’t remember why I liked certain books or why I’d recommend skipping it. My sister-in-law asked if I’d read any good books lately and my mind went blank. I generally read over 100 books a year, and I note them down with a 1-10 rating, but then I forget what I liked about them. In case anyone reads this, I like romance, women’s fiction, and general fiction best. Steamy’s fine, and swear words don’t bother me. LBGQ+ is all good. If those bother you, then you will probably disagree with my book recommendations. In 2024, my highest rated books were: All The Right Notes - Dominic Lim (8.5), The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (8.5), Ghosting: A Love Story - Tash Skilton (8.5), We Could Be So Good - Cat Sebastian (8.5), Fangirl Down - Tessa Bailey (9), Mrs. Nash’s Ashes - Sarah Adler (9), The True Love Experiment - Christina Lauren (9), Not in Love - Ali Hazelwood (8.5), The Paradise Problem - Christina Lauren (8.5), Under Your Spell - Laura Wood (9.5), and The Pairing - Casey McQuiston (8.5).

Why did I love Under Your Spell so much? I have absolutely no idea. Best rating of the year, and I can’t even picture the book. So here we go. For 2025 I resolve to write quick blurbs about what I read and why I gave it that rating.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Book 40 - The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

Classic fake-dating trope mixed with The Hating Game. Catalina Martin needs a boyfriend for her sister’s wedding, so the whole family doesn’t look at her with pity. The groom’s brother is her ex, and he’s recently engaged. The only one willing to help is her enemy colleague, Aaron Blackford. Nothing new of overly inventive, although the Spanish flavor was nice. Slow burn and then a fair amount of spice. Aaron seemed to have pretty good people and communication skills once he was fake dating Catalina, so I’m not sure why he didn’t use those skills before to apologize and express his feeling for her. There’s nothing overly memorable about the book, but I enjoyed it. I’ll happily read the next one about Catalina’s best friend. (8)

Book 41 - What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon

There was a lot I really liked about this book. My favorite character, hands down, was the setting of Amsterdam. It certainly made me want to go visit, wander the streets, and eat all the foods. Dani Dorfman and Wouter van Leeuwen fell in love in high school, when he was a foreign exchange student from Amsterdam, staying with Dani’s family in LA. After he returned home, the break up was curt and painful for Dani. For some reason she still decides to move to Amsterdam when a work opportunity arises, and then is determined to figure out a way to stay when the work opportunity falls apart. Dani and Wouter run into each other (literally, which seems to happen a lot in romance novels), and forge a hesitant partnership as Dani needs to find a new apartment after the one she initially had floods, and Wouter has a place for rent. Dani will be booted out of the country if she can’t find a job in 90 days, and Wouter needs to be married to inherit his family’s home. The needs-to-be-married-for-in...

Book 63 - Book Boyfriend by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Jennifer and Scott are work rivals at a publishing company. He scoffs at her favorite fantasy series, so she’s shocked to see him at a week-long fantasy immersion vacation. Enemies to lovers, always fun.  I love this duo’s writing style, like the line about Princess Bride-ing it down a hill and other clever turns of phrases. I’ll read whatever they write just for that. I liked how they incorporated the fantasy world, Elytheum, into the story, even if it was a bit over-the-top and unrealistic. I’m not a big fantasy reader, and I wasn’t sure what a fae is (Google confirms my thought that it’s like a fairy), but I could appreciate how ingrained the series is into Jennifer’s life.  I liked Jennifer and Scott’s interactions, for the most part. I think the biggest flaw is that the only thing really keeping the characters apart is their suspicion and fear. Which got a little repetitive. And Jennifer’s self reflections got a bit tedious for me. All in all it was a cute read. I liked t...