Nikki Payne Writes the Best Contemporary Jane Austen Adaptations

 A nice chaser to this book is to treat yourself with an evening watching the new Hallmark Channel Sense & Sensibility.

If you enjoy Jane Austen's retellings, you can't go wrong with this book. I really like that the store focuses on Nora and Ennis.  They are the POV characters in this version. Personally, for reasons unknown, I always enjoy a book set in Maine, and this book is no exception! 

I listened to the audio version of this book and the readers are outstanding. If you like audiobooks, go ahead and get that version of this book! You won't be disappointed. I don't want to spoil this book for you, of course, can you really spoil a retelling? The major plot points are all there. In this book, there is a scene involving condoms and it is such a good scene. I won't forget it, and frankly, I forget so much of what I read! (like character names). 

For me, this was a 5-star book. The characters are well written,  Nikki Payne really puts them through the wringer and I really thought all hope was lost! 

Less than a week until our Illinois Primary! Here is a sunset photo from Monday's canvassing. The time change means it wasn't pitch black when I got done at seven p.m. 

The Sunday Post- Not Sure How That Happened

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme  

I wrote and published a whole Sunday post yesterday and then today I made a post for Tuesday and then I somehow managed to overwrite that post and accidentally post my Tuesday post this afternoon. Whoopsy. 

How was your week?  It was cold here and we had some more snow but not a bunch. This coming week it's supposed to be above freezing and I'm happy about that because on Tuesday I'm medically cleared to run again. Obviously, I'll need there to be snow and ice-free sidewalks. 

I've got two of my posts for this week done, one is for my own book release, No Gouda Without You, and another new release You Are Enough that will be out on Thursday. I also finished reading Between Mischief and Magic and I'll review that either Friday or Saturday. 

Have a great week! 

What A Week! Happy Friday!

 

School was closed on Tuesday due to below zero temperatures and wind chills. This was very handy as I got to spend more time correcting typos and other errors in my book. I went through my manuscript four times this week! It was mentally exhausting, I much prefer drafting the story to looking for mistakes.

My stress level was also eleven on a scale of ten because I had a potential cancer recurrence scare and the appointment I had for Monday was rescheduled to Wednesday. I'm so happy to say I was able to have an ultrasound and nothing is wrong! I could have used a Xanax to get through Tuesday and Wednesday morning. I had some terrible sleep!  

I am almost done reading an ARC of  Donna R. Madden's upcoming release You Are Enough.  The book comes out next week and I'll be doing a blog post on its release day (January 25th). I am also over halfway through reading Between Mischief and Magic.  I'm really enjoying the mysterious world of the book and can't wait to see how it ends.  

Not Just Gal Pals - My First Book for the I Heart SapphFic Book Challenge.

 

I was scrolling Facebook at the end of the year and an author that I follow (and that you should read) posted about a book reading challenge for 2024.  I looked into the challenge and it seems really fun, so I decided I'm going to participate in it this year. I love that you can win gift cards so you can buy more books. Is anything more perfect than that?

Here is the link to the challenge if you'd like to join in!

For this bookish challenge, there are 100 different categories! This book is my entry for small-town romance. I'm happy to report I started right out of the gate with a fun 5-star book! Not Just Gal Pals is the story of Jenny and Blake. Jenny is an influencer who has returned home to Sapphire Springs for a few months to get away from a social media scandal, and Blakc is the local doctor. There are some really cute scenes in the book, like a Pride and Prejudice-themed wedding shower and a delightful wedding in a barn. There is also a very nice amount of heat. If you are looking for a fun read that brings some nice passion into the mix and gives you low-angst. By the end of the story I definitely had a crush on Blake, she is swoony! Add this book to your TBR pile. It's available as a Kindle Unlimited. 

What I'll be Taking into 2024

 Have you heard of choosing a word of the year?  Some people do that as a resolution or goal to focus on the attributes of the word they choose. This isn't a tradition I follow, but now that 2023 is in the rearview window, I can see that last year was a year of experimentation for me. I can't even say it was a conscious effort on my part! 

Here are things I tried in 2023 that I'll be taking with me into the new year. These aren't in any particular order.

1. I started watching K-dramas. Turns out I love Kdramas. They are like watching a book come to life. Part of the enjoyment is not only the storytelling but learning about a different culture. It's interesting to see the difference in social norms. I enjoy the dramas so much that I joined the Afternoona Delight Podcast Patreon. I even managed to attend a group Zoom in December. So fun! 

2. We took advantage of living close to a world-class city and made a bunch of excursions into Chicago. We even got to go to a Cubs Rooftop. I think that experience is overrated. I'm not a Cubs fan, take my opinion with a grain of salt. 

3. I was able to sign up for a two-year nutritional and wellness coaching program through my hubs work. I started the program a few months ago and am looking forward to working on trying new ways to exercise this year. 

4. I plan to take writing romance books into the new year. It feels surreal that I finished a book this fall and I am going to work hard to keep writing. As part of that, I plan to make the effort to post here more often. I've been blogging here on and off since 2007. I have not aged a day, but that was 17 years ago!  Can you believe it's 2024?  I hope we all have a good year. We deserve it!

How about you? What are you taking into the new year? 

I'm quickly making my way through the book below, I found it on Kindle Unlimited. It's really cute and has some nice little Pride and Prejudice nods it in. I'll be sharing my thoughts on it soon!

Beth's Absolution and a How Do You Feel About Question to Start the Week

 

I picked up the Kindle version of this book and read it over about three days. It's a fast-paced read of less than 250 pages, which is nice for when you want a book you can read in a day or a weekend. This isn't the first book in the series, but it works well as a stand-alone, and you can go back and read more if you like the people and town in this one. 

For those of you who enjoy Motorcycle Club books, this book has that. It's a romantic suspense, so it's pretty non-stop. The male main character is Doug, and I have to say I don't recall reading a book with a male main character named Doug!  I appreciated that in this book our leads communicate well and there isn't a bunch of drama created because of miscommunication. 

Four Stars from me.  Motorcycle Club books aren't my thing so this book was a stretch read for me, if you love MC books, add it to your TBR for sure! 

CW- discussion of drug overdoses 

***********************

When you are reading romance or mysteries do you like books that have a hint of magic in them?  

The Least Amount of Awful, Definitely Not an Awful Book!

 

If you asked me to describe this book in ten words or less I would say: "It's a Hallmark Movie with benefits."  We have a small town, we have a girl coming from the city in a fancy car, everyone is attractive and has a good job, Jake is a single dad with abs for days, Colbie owns a series of barre studios. Jake is quite rude to Colbie in the beginning, but it is overcome.  The angst level and pining is low in this book.

The main characters are great communicators and Jennifer Millikin is a very good writer, the sex scenes were picture perfect, the right amount of description and heat level. She also ties in the title of the book in a pivotal way throughout the story. 

Overall I enjoyed the book, I did feel that Jake and Emmett (Colbie's dad) were 'too perfect' for me, and Colbie's mom was unsympathetically awful.  But hey this is a romance, and the main story is quite well done. 

4 stars! 

Say Victoria, Why Did you Read Romancing the Beat?

That's a great question! For as long as I can remember I've wanted to write and when I was a child and a teen I did write, then life got in the way and I spend my 20s thinking I needed to have experiences worth writing about instead of writing. Then I got married and had kids and well, that was a lot. To be fair, I did some blogging and I wrote a bit, but mostly I didn't and then I thought should I go back to school and get an English Degree or study creative writing? Then I thought, how can I even consider spending money on going back to school when we have three kids to put through college? After thinking on that for a while, I decided maybe writing doesn't need to be me creating a best seller or the next great American novel, maybe I could write a cozy mystery.

So I did that, and right when I was getting something together and ready to be at the editing stage, then I found out I had cancer. Then when that was done and my brain was mush, then Covid happened. Oh sure that could have been a really good time to go back to writing, but as you can see I'm quite good at pushing off my dream to write stories other people want to read. 

So lately, I've been thinking about writing again and writing in the romance genre. This time around, my plan is to get to the point where I can self-publish via Kindle Unlimited. I've started listening to podcasts and following smaller successful romance writers who share how they do the business side and based on my past work experience, I think self-publishing would be something I could manage--once I have something to publish.  Plus I'll need to save up money to pay to have someone edit my book. Here is my process and timeline (I'm posting all this so I have some accountability for my writing dream)

Now thru end of May:

Listen to podcasts for writing and publishing romance. 

Work on a very detailed outline as well as character sheets 

June: 

Participate in the #1000wordsofsummer writing challenge and draft 1,000 words per day for the first two weeks of June. 

Then assess--ideally be in a writing groove and finish my round draft by end of summer - or fall. 

*****

I enjoyed reading Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes, it's a short book that breaks down the plot points that make a good romance so good. For me, I need to plan to be creative, so this book is perfect for me to start with as I begin writing from an idea I had a few years ago!

 

The Official Start of Spring Is Almost Here- The Sunday Post!

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme 

Spring is beginning soon but we had snow showers yesterday, March weather is usually doggone cold in the Chicago area, so the snow is no surprise. I am hoping April will be warmer with more days in the 50s (or 10s for Celsius).  As I mentioned last Sunday my husband I and I walked with our Congressman, Sean Casten, in the South Side Parade (Chicago) 

Here is a picture! 

I'm getting a Blue Apron delivery tomorrow so I'll be trying a couple of new tasty recipes. I like to treat us to a Blue Apron delivery once a month.  How about you? Are you treating yourself to something this week?

Books I'm finishing up and planning to write about:

When He Was Wicked

 

This is the sixth book in the Bridgerton series. Did I enjoy it?  Not as much as some of the other books. I think the part where Francesca can't decide about getting remarried goes on too long. If you like some decent sex scenes, I think this has more than some of the other books in this series. I did appreciate that unlike many other historical romances set in Regency England the MCs in this story are not virgins and they are working through grief, these are themes I typically enjoy, but for whatever reason I just wasn't that into this book. I think the part I like the most when Violet was on the scene. 

Like where is a romance for Violet. That's what I want to read, I know she doesn't want to get remarried, but... 

Anywho this is a 3 star book for me. It's fine. 

Have you read this one? I also saw today a synopsis of what we can expect on season three of Bridgerton which will be Penelope & Colins story and it seems to be a big departure from the books. Which is OK, I'll watch it either way, I look forward to seeing it. I hope that Lady Danbury still plays a big part in the season. She's great! 

Bridgerton, Eloise suprises me!

 I was in no hurry to read Eloise's book. She is fairly annoying on the TV show and I didn't know what all her story could offer.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised by

this book.  Although I'm tired of romances featuring virgins, I found this book to be very enjoyable, I liked that Eloise and Phillip begin conversing via letters and that she shows up at his door basically unannounced. And then they have loads of time together alone-- scandalous!  And then just when they are getting to really know each other her family shows up.  So it's nice to have-- much like Benedict's book nearly the first half of the story without the larger Bridgerton family on the scene and then they swoop in and help the couple find their way.

I believe I liked this story because 1. Eloise is older than what we have seen on the show so far, so she is less annoying on the show because she is more mature, and 2. I like that Sir Phillip is a widow with a child--so he had depth. 

I am interested to see how this book will be shown on the big screen as Eloise's story has verged from what we see in the book significantly at this point. 

4 stars for To Sir Phillip, With Love  (now if this book has been written as an epistolary that would have made it a 5 in my book!)  

Get Ready !!The Latest Installment from #ItHappenedOneMidnight #NetGalley

Here is the description from the publisher: 

"Saranna DeWylde brings her trademark mix of quirky charm, sexy comedy, and a touch of magic to the third Fairy Godmothers, Inc. installment, as Ever After, Missouri’s resident fairy godmothers Petunia, Jonquil, and Bluebonnet are doing their best to restore their hometown’s deep well of enchantment by conjuring true love, one happy couple at a time. This time, the godmothers set their sights on their very own goddaughter, a romance novelist whose fib about a fake engagement is about to transform into a friends-to-lovers story worthy of the bestseller lists…"

 Part of what keeps bringing me back to this series is I love the godmothers! I mean sure their charges are great and it's fun to see them fall in love--or admit they are in love. But it is just delightful to get to know Petunia, Jonquil, and Bluebonnet.  I can't wait for Saranna to give us a book where one of the godmothers has a romance! 

In this book, we see the romance of Juniper and Tomas. This one is a friends-to-lovers. Now even though this is the third book in this series, and I should be certain that a HEA is destined to happen at the end, I still was real worried Tomas would blow his chance for a HEA with the love of his life.  That's good writing.

The humor this series is known for continues and we get to spend time with some of our Ever After favorites. If you haven't started this series yet, now is a great time to start as you'll get to read two books, and then this one will be out!  Put this series on your Christmas List! Then we will all have to wait for the next installment and hopefully a Rumplestilskin sighting! 

4 stars for It Happened One Midnight thank you NetGalley!  I loved the opportunity to read this joyful book! 

#TheSundayPost Marathon Day is Here! Wish me luck!

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

I'm writing this the night before the long-awaited Chicago Marathon. The weather is going to be really hot for a marathon, so I am not feeling too great about going out in the morning and running 26.2 miles. I was really hoping we could get a nice crisp October day with highs in the low 50s.  Alas, tomorrow is going to be 80ish and humid.  It will be an adventure!  I'll let you know how it turns out! 

Next week I'll be sharing reviews for these books: 

How was your week?  Read anything good? 

#TheSundayPost The Second Sunday in May!

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Happy Mother's Day to anyone celebrating.  Virtual hugs to anyone who is sad on this day unable to talk, or be with someone they love or dealing with complicated mother/child relationships.  

At my house, this Sunday is my oldest son's bday so we are celebrating his day today. Later on in the day, I am fortunate that I can call my mother.

This week I had my second Pfizer shot, and with that shot, everyone in the house has had all their vaccine doses and on the 18th we will reach fully vaccinated status. Hooray! 

In celebration of getting that second shot, I decided to visit a romance new and used bookstore near me.  They have online ordering so check out their website: Love's Sweet Arrow

Here is the picture of my book haul! 

Now all I need is the weather here to perk up so I can sit outside and read! 

Tomorrow on the blog I am a Blog Tour host for a new book by Dahlia Donovan called Pierced Peony.  It's the second installment in her Mott's Cold Case Mystery series.  Make sure to check it out! There's a Giveaway!!!

How was your week? Did you read, watch, or listen to anything good?  I hope you are doing well! 

Have You Hugged A Tree Lately? #NationalArborDay ! Read #MenareFrogs Under a Shady Tree! #netgalley

 Happy Arbor Day! Go give a tree a hug! They do so much for us and they always look beautiful! 

If you have time go out and read a book under a shady tree, if you are looking for a book to add to your TBR pile, read on for my review of Men are Frogs  by Saranna DeWylde. This is the second book in her Fairy Godmothers, Inc. series. I received an ARC of the book from #NetGalley, all the opinions of the book are mine. 

It was great to return to the whimsical, fairytale town of Ever After, Missouri, and see the Fairy Godmothers (FGs) find new ways to meddle in the lives of mortals! 

Men Are Frogs has the level of humor and snark that I enjoyed in book one, and also some wonderful sweetness.  Zuri, our heroine, is a wedding planner, but she doesn't believe a HEA is in her future.  Phillip Charming has spent 300 years as a part-time frog.  You would think it would just be a kiss and poof all fixed, but that's not how it goes.  You don't get your HEA without putting in the work. 

In the book we learn more about the magic world and also met Zuri's twin Zena who is delightful and will be in future books--perhaps alongside Hunter in what will be a wonderfully twisted tale of Beauty and the Beast. We also spend time with Ravenna the "Evil" Queen. I can't wait to read her HEA.  Who is good enough for her? 

I'm not going to lie, maybe it was because I was tired or maybe it was just this book, but I got misty-eyed when our love interests made their leaps and had faith. *Sigh* The book's themes of what it means to truly be sorry, to having self-worth in the face of doubt, and forgiveness were a pleasure to read. 

Since it made me teary, I've got to give it 5 stars! 

#MenAreFrogs, #NetGalley

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, some of the wording may change when this book is out in the world. 

Boy Am I Going To Miss The Reluctant Royals! #SeriesinaMonthChallenge And Avocado Toast Disappointment

 I would like to move to the alternative universe of Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series.  Too bad you can't do a Go Fund Me to raise funds to buy a magical ticket into the fictional realm.  At least I had the #SeriesinaMonth Challenge.  This series was a wonderful escape during the last few weeks of winter.

What a great-looking cover, right?  I like the bold colors and the dresses each of our heroines has worn on the series covers and this dress is no exception.  Beautiful! This book is featured in the book so it's nice to see a representation of Nya in it. 

I am pretty bummed that this is the last book in the series and that I have already read the first book in the spin-off series, How to Catch A Queen.  At least I can look forward to reading the second book n the spin-off series (Runaway Royals) this summer. 

I loved A Prince on Paper, a 5-star review for me. Picture me ticking these features off on my hand  1. It has the wonderful Nya, cousin to Naledi,  who is inexperienced, but not naive and sensitive in the best ways rake, Johan.  2. There is a tiny fake kingdom  3. there is an exploration of life for someone who has experienced Munchhausen by Proxy. 4. There is a fantastic, fantastic subplot about gender identity and Number five, but really first in my heart... A fake engagement!  I love a good fake engagement. Alyssa Cole is on the top of her game in this book, it's so good and why isn't it a Netflix limited series already. C'mon now! 

Alyssa Cole's writing contains just the right amount of humor! 

Do yourself a favor and get this book, get the whole series but esp get my two favorites, A Prince on Paper and Can't Escape Love! 

*******

Welp, this whole growing avocado tree from a pit is not panning out so well.  Dare I say, it's the pits? Yes, I do dare to make that pun! 

At least I have spring in the great outdoors to look forward to and on that note; time for a couple of springtime photos: 

I see this bird's nest on my walks and runs, so far no eggs. If that changes y'all will be the first to know--well besides the birds! 

Look!! You can see the first hints of green!!

This Weeks #SeriesinaMonth Challenge Post! A Duke By Default #romance

A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole is the second book in her Reluctant Royals series, this time around I was able to borrow an e-book version from my local public library to read. 

This book is the story of Portia, Naledi's best friend in book one.  I was so excited that she was getting her own book!  Portia's story hits home for many readers. Portia has spent her life feeling she was the bad twin. She's been told she is flighty, lazy, unable to commit, unable to finish anything, and worst of all selfish. The self-loathing she has felt for years, especially when compared negatively by her parents to her twin sister Reggie, has led to self-destructive behaviors on her part, especially drinking.  

She is on the cusp of 30 and has decided it's time for a new Portia. This Portia gets an apprenticeship at an Armory in Scotland. New Portia is abstaining from men and booze. Avoiding alcohol proves much easier than avoid men altogether when she meets Tavis McKenzie, her very handsome gruff Scottish Master Swordsman. 

Watching Portia discovering that her behaviors were rooted in undiagnosed ADHD and seeing how she learned coping mechanisms and slowly began to believe in herself was as enjoyable as the slow burn of the romance. You can't have a HEA before you love yourself. 

Alyssa Cole offers another contemporary romance that has heat, deals with social issues, and solid humor. The series doesn't have to be read in order, but I have to say that reading in order is enhancing my enjoyment of the books. 

4 stars to A Duke By Default! 

Quote from the Book:

“Excuse me?”
The librarian looked up again.
“I need help now. I need to print this article and . . . do you have any books about dukes?”
The librarian’s eyes went wide and she rubbed her hands together with glee. “We have a fantastic romance section,” she said. “Do you need recommendations? How do you like your dukes? Grumpy? Tortured? Alpha, beta, or alpha in the streets, beta in the sheets?”
“Actually, I meant nonfiction,” Portia said glumly.
The librarian sighed. “Aye. Just a warning, love—the non-fic dukes are not nearly as fun.” 

Avocado Pit Update- 

Here we have my original pit, as you can see, not much is happening.

I am coming to the conclusion that my first attempt at growing an avocado tree isn't going well. I decided to try another pit and see if that one might grow.  I think that it is starting to grow roots, but it's too soon to tell. We should know by next week for sure, fingers crossed!

Next Wednesday I will be reviewing the two novellas in the series. Once Ghosted, Twice Shy and Can't Escape Love! 

#TheSundayPost Goal This Week: Mason Bee Open House

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Happy Daylight Savings Time to everyone who lost an hour!  On the plus side it will be daylight longer today!  We here in Chicagoland had glorious weather on Saturday but it has now taken a turn for the worse --but still not too bad. I mean we have had some very wintery Marches around these parts.  Once it warms up later this week, I've tasked the Hubs with hanging up our new Mason Bee House!  

Keep your fingers crossed that there are some Mason bees in our area looking for new digs. Mason bees are excellent pollinators so it would be great to have some nearby that can pollinate my garden plants this year.  Over the last few years, I've had bad luck getting my pepper plants pollinated! 

How was your week?  The most interesting thing I did was canvassing for a couple local candidates.  An election for many local offices- ie Township Clerk, Mayor, School Board, etc. is coming up on April 6th so there is less than a month to go. I'm glad I am able to volunteer to help candidates I support and it's a great way to get those steps in! 

Did you do anything interesting this week? 

You can see my reviews from last week here: 

The Disappearance of Emily

First in my #seriesinamonth - A Princess in Theory

Fairy Godmothers, Inc.

(exciting news- I've scored the NetGalley ARC of book 2 in the Fairy Godmothers, Inc. series! 

Upcoming this week I'll be sharing my thoughts on these books:

Thanks for stopping by! 

Repurposing A Wine Bottle and #COYER Spring Challenge! Join us!

 The other day my other half picked himself up a bottle of wine from Walgreens and I thought to myself, that is a good-looking wine label.  So once the wine was gone.  I repurposed the wine bottle and added it to my bookshelf. I am tempted to find books to put on the shelf that goes with the Firefly theme. 

In case you are wondering what I did, I just took a string of LED lights I got from Aldi over the holidays and stuck the little lights into the wine bottle to get the effect of having fireflies in a mason jar, and then I used some velcro to attach the battery pack on the back of the bottle. Easy peasy, that is the extent of my DIY skills. 

As you may recall this year I am joining reading challenges.  To the right of this post,  you can see the Read a Series in a Month Challenge button which you can click to join!  My post on that challenge is here:  Two Challenges To Talk About.

I am also participating in the COYERS Seasons Challenge, which means it's time for my COYER Spring Challenge post!  You can read all the details and join me in the challenge here.   I'm really excited for this part of the challenge because now that physical books are included it gives me an incentive to read the books I got for Christmas and some books I won in contests. 

In addition to the gentle nudge to read books that I already own,  COYERS offers community! I love being part of the group.  It's nice to read with others, and have a chance to talk about books outside of a traditional book club. 

I hope the beginning of March is going well, the anniversary of when the pandemic began to affect most of our lives is just about here. I hope you are in a good place and soon to be vaccinated or already vaccinated! 

#Romance Review and a Recommendation

 

This month's selection for a book club I belong to was  A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison. It's a story told from Hannah and Sam's point of view in which they have just finished secondary school.  It takes place over the summer while they are waiting for the results of their admissions tests for university.  In the book Hannah and Sam keep running into each other, being attracted to each other, and then something gets in the way, and they miss their opportunity.  The book has parties and trips and shopping and eating--honestly, reading about the vacations in France, Greece, and the group of friends going to a festival during COVID-19 made me a little jealous.  However, listening to the book definitely didn't make me miss being 18. The book is filled with many miscommunications and drunken decisions, which seem to be right on point for that time of life between the very end of childhood and the official start of adulthood.  

One line from the book that I really enjoyed is when Pax (a male character)  says: "Love her? Love her?  You don't love someone until you are like 23 or something."  That sounds like a solid life plan!

I listened to the audio version of this book at 1.8 speed. Both readers are excellent and make the book that much more engaging. 

3.5 Stars  - If you like first love romances with lots of missed connections, you'll love this book. 

***

And now the recommendation. I was looking for a way to use fewer giant plastic bottles of Laundry Soap and Dishwasher detergent. I decided it was worth it to give Dropps a try.   I've been super impressed.  The boxes the pods come in can be composted and the pods work as good as name brand stuff in the washing machine and the dishwasher pods are super good. I've stopped having to rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.  This link has a referral discount: Dropps if you want to check it out. It's a subscription service but it's very flexible on the timing of orders, and it's so nice to reduce some of the plastic bottles our house goes through each month.