This is the 3rd book in the Bromance Bookclub series. In this book the heroine is Alexis who was the MC BFF in the 2nd book. She is dealing with the aftermath of naming a former boss in a sexual harassment case. Her cat cafe is a place of welcome to other survivors. Noah is a former hacker turned tech genius. He and Alexis became best friends during her ordeal and now they both weigh possibly losing that friendship if they become more.

Evelyn Hugo reached the heights of being an Old Hollywood star. She‘s complex and the reader is forced to love and hate her as she recounts the story of her life through the various decades. She was never afraid to defy convention and the Hollywood system to get what she wants.

This is the 2nd book in the Singh family trilogy. Ajay and Raj have instant attraction, but they struggle to be together in part due to their own ambitions, the walls they‘ve put up from events in their pasts, and mistrust related to the corporate storyline that begins in the first book and then carries over here. Raj is determined to rely on herself and keep things physical. Ajay is game until it‘s no longer enough.

I recommend listening to the audio version of these short stories. They vary greatly in length, but each one was strong enough on its own. My one critique is that not all of the stories dealt with “church ladies”, but it was the voices of black women who have conflicts with living conventionally in various forms.

My goal was 70, but I managed to read 78 this year.

My February #bookreport

This is the story of Cudjo Lewis who was the last survivor of the last known slave ship to arrive in America near Mobile, AL. It was recorded in his own words and dialect in 1927. The author‘s fight to keep that central prevented it from being published until 2018. The story is important to be told, but the book is flawed in that we are limited in what we do hear from him. The rest is appendix, introduction, and random fables Cudjo told.

Illness limited my reading this month, but I enjoyed everything that I did read. Milk and Honey was audio, The Wedding Party and The Song of Achilles were physical copies from my TBR pile, and the 3 titles from the Murderbot series were digital from the library.

I now understand why so many Littens love this one. Murderbot is awesome. This was a fun sci-fi novella and I‘m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

One of my favorites of 2019. This felt like a book version of a Rolling Stone article or a VH-1 Behind the Music episode. It shows the difficulty of a band making music magic when managing egos, competing personalities, and backstage drama of sex, drugs and rock and roll. I‘m looking forward to the TV series version of Daisy and the Six.

Set in Bogotá, Colombia and told through alternating chapters from the perspective of young Chula and Patrona, the teenage maid. Chula lives in a gated community and grows up seeing violence outside those gates. Patrona lives in the guerilla controlled slums of the Hills and has lost family to the violence and struggles to keep her family afloat. Parts of this story are difficult to read, but it was important to the story of that time and place.

A powerful play about an African American family living together in a small apartment in Chicago. It‘s about family dynamics and how each generation has different ideas about how to achieve their dreams and be more successful than their ancestors. It‘s also about the racism and poverty that creates obstacles and oppression for reaching those dreams. #readingwomenchallenge #femaleplaywright

This includes 4 Christmas anthologies with the running threads of a duke and a shortbread cookie recipe included in each story. As with all shorter romance stories, the love and HEA happens very quickly, but each story was strong enough to stand alone. I liked that each author used different time periods and settings.

#bookmail This is my #bookhaul that I ordered from Interabang Books. This independent book store was destroyed in the recent storm in Dallas. They are planning to rebuild, but they‘ve asked for support in the form of online orders through their website. I decided to order a few things for my niece and nephews.

This #romantsy explores the world of the NFL and the hierarchy and cattiness amongst the wives and girlfriends of the players. The MC is a long term girlfriend and she must endure the wrath and censure of the other wives as well as fans who blame her for any loss. After her relationship falls apart she hesitates to get into a relationship with another player, but the chemistry with Marlee and Gavin is strong. Enjoyable read, but flawed.

I read this for the #IndigenousAuthor prompt of the #ReadingWomenChallenge. Maggie is a monster slayer and must grapple with her clan powers and their consequences as well as the loss she has faced in her life. Her world has a dystopian setting after a big flood. There is a lot of action mixed with fantasy and Navajo stories. This is the first book in the series.

I read this for the #ReadingWomenChallenge prompt for a book set in Appalachia. Prodigal Summer takes place over the course of a summer as three narrators face changes in their lives. Deanna lives alone in the woods and relates more to nature than people. Lusa is navigating a new marriage and family in the country. Garnett is a widowed old coot who dislikes his organic grower neighbor. Nature in Appalachia is another character in the book.

This was another enjoyable Tessa Dare book. Penny and Gabriel each had overcome so much in their respective childhoods, but they both needed to grow more. They evolved together. I loved that Penny‘s menagerie of animals and her friends from the previous books in the series increased the humor. The humor helped to balance the more serious issues. My only complaint in the book is lack of resolution with her parents with regard to one issue.

Olive and Ethan have hated each other for years. Now, they are forced to go on a honeymoon together after the bride and groom (her sister/his brother) and the whole wedding party get food poisoning. Surely, they can keep their distance for 10 days in Hawaii? I enjoyed this funny romantic comedy. Olive‘s quirky, large family and her relationship with her twin was fun to read about. Also enjoyed banter of the MC couple

The Duke of Greycourt‘s mother has now been widowed three different times and all were dukes. He and his half siblings gather for the funeral of his stepfather. Beatrice is a poor relation there to organize the funeral to stay in the good graces of her wealthier relations. Grey becomes suspicious of his step-father‘s death and Beatrice‘s involvement. They each become more fascinated with each other while keeping secrets.

A woman meets a man through a personal ad originally intended for her friend. She is Blackamoore and he is her favorite actor. She suggests elopement to escape an arranged marriage her parents want for her. He agrees because of his past as well as a passion for abolition. The female MC can be annoying due to constant doubts. Elopement isn‘t easy due to their differences.

Hattie is a strong character who is trying to follow a list of goals known as “The Year of Hattie” as she sets her own destiny. She crosses paths with Beast, who lives outside her world of Mayfair and that changes her destiny. I loved that they were both flawed and had insecurities, but the focus was on them being a meeting of equals. The love scenes ranked high on the steam meter.

There is nothing fearless about me. I‘m scared every day. I fear the wide world and the way it stares at me and sneers about me and whispers about me when it thinks I cannot hear. I fear a life of half measures, full of shadows of emotions and hints of possibilities and a thousand things I might have had if only I had reached a bit further.

I‘m #ReadingtheBridgertons before the series becomes a new Netflix show. Pros: humor, witty banter between the MCs, big family dynamics Cons:derogatory language against a child with speech issues, a questionable consent scene, male MC who feels dragged into every level of the relationship against his will. The two epilogues did help to make up for some of the negativity in the main part of the book. #romantsy

The Dior exhibit at Dallas Museum of Art is beautifully done and so inspiring. It was interesting to see how the label has changed throughout the years as each new creative director puts their own stamp on the designs.

Today I got to see the exhibit “Monet: The Later Years” at the Kimbell Art Museum. Monet has always been one of my favorite artists and it was humbling to get to see so many of his works in one place.

Three sisters from a Filipino family take over their family wedding planning business. We do have their love lives involved, but the focus is on the sibling drama and how it relates to their business. Some of the sibling trauma felt unnecessary and it would have been nice to focus on the romance more. Most of the annoying sibling stuff rang true though.

#Thanks for the tag @KarenUK 1. The Bones by Marren Morris 2. I‘d be in Paris and stroll the Louvre at my leisure then pick up a few pastries and head over to the banks of the Seine to enjoy them while reading a good book. 3. A home because it‘s where we could spend many years making memories 4. @sudi @JoScho #wondrouswednesday

I wish we were given more details of the spy training process and that the actual mission was more interesting. The MC was distracted by her love interest and personal drama during the whole book. I‘m willing to give the rest of the series a chance to see the resolution to the questions raised in this book. #readingwomenchallenge2019 - A book that is part of a series #YA

This book covers the lives and complicated relationships of the Skinner family. The best part was the era known as “The Pause” when the siblings were young and they had to band together during their mother‘s grief to survive. I wish the book had ended there. I hated them as adults as well as the dystopian future framing device which didn‘t fit the tone of the rest of the book. The title also seemed to be at best ironic.

This was a quick, fun read that explores the idea of love at first sight. The guy and girl go through quite a bit and prove that although love at first sight can be real, it takes more than that to ultimately be together. The characters were frustrating at times, but overall I enjoyed their journey. #Reesesbookclub #hellosunshine #Readingwomenchallenge2019 -A romance or love story. #romcom #contemporaryromance

This contemporary romance would make a great rom-com movie. It had all the necessary elements including a cute guy and girl, an elevator meet-cute, great food, hot sex, some conflict, and ultimate realization of love #contemporaryromance #Romance #romcom #meetcute

My first Litsy post! These are some of the books I‘ve read so far this year as part of the #readingwomenchallenge2019 #readingwomen #diversereading #diverseauthors #readingchallenge