This was a solid return to Knockemout (gosh, that town name is bonkers). A compelling enemies to lovers tale. A bit of a second chance trope. Slowwwww burn and pretty spicy, though some of the steamy scenes were a bit far fetched. I was certainly drawn to suit daddy though!

Side note: why are her books so LONG?!

Super cute, very steamy, solid romance! A runaway bride with stumbles on a nanny gig for the hunky, blue collar single dad of twins... while literally still wearing her defunct wedding dress. So sparks were bound to fly (duh!) ❤️

New #BOTM add on! 📚

#BOTM is using Nathan Hill's new book as bait for new subscribers. It doesn't seem to be available to current members for the time being, but maybe they'll open it up as an October add-on? 😬

SO GOOD. She's just inherited her step grandmother's New Hampshire tulip farm after being left at the alter, and he's the owner of the neighboring farm (and her former high school friend, who just so happens to have been pining for her ever since). Small town, slow burn romance with an adorably fowl mouthed niece and a grumpy, broody, quiet MMC that turns into a vocal, alpha, freak-in-the-sheets. YES PLEASE! 🔥

Another #BOTM crossword clue, another October prediction! Starling House seems to fit the bill quite well, I see the words nightmares, mining, warden, haunted, and fairytale as likely answers to the puzzle 🕵️🏽‍♀️

A late #BOTM add-on added, available for October boxes! The description mentions Practical Magic meeting Gilmore Girls, so sounds like a promising fall pick to me 🎃

I enjoyed this debut! Not without its imperfections, and there was less spice than I anticipated given one of the MCs is a literal porn star, but I really liked the "female empowerment and sexual education in the adult entertainment industry" angle, as opposed to the "male gaze" BS it is in reality. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. My favorite of hers so far! I love the very real characters she brings to life, with very real (and relatable) complexities and representation. And the SPICE! 🌶 Just so good, can't wait till her next book release.

Another fun day to be a recruiter at Google! *insert sarcastic look here* - Today started with an ominous note and a last minute meeting added to our calendars, at which time we were informed that there would be a "significant reduction" to the recruiting org globally. We then had to wait a few hours to see if we got an email layoff notification. I did NOT lose my job today, but my motivation is gone and now I'm just looking for an escape hatch ?

Ooh - #BOTM is giving better clues earlier on! This crossword clue for an October pick is a fun idea. I'm thinking this book could possibly be it, and seems like a solid fall selection. Here's the words I think for the puzzle:

1. Curse
2. Hallucination
3. Joke
4. Flower
5. Elapsed Time

Down the rabbit hole I go...

I've heard amazing things about this series, but some have said things really pick up *after* the first book. Hyped books always make me a little nervous, but I'm excited to see where my opinion falls!

I kept my #Aardvark box simple this month with one pick! I won an ARC of Amazing Grace Adams, and while I'm OBSESSED with the alternate cover of Bridge, the synopsis is a little far from what I've been in the mood for lately. And as tempted as I am by the "Ted Lasso" comparison for The Long Game, I absolutely hated The Spanish Love Deception ?

Not Quinn's best, but I was entertained! Felt like a take on The Princess Diaries, but with a lot more spice 🌶👸🏼

#Aardvark did some heavy hinting on Instagram that Rouge is gonna be an October pick!

September #BOTM picks are live! I went with a thriller heavy selection... anxiously waiting for crisp fall weather and cozy reading days 🍁

Updating my September #Aardvark guesses based on today's new clues! 📚

The first couple of September #Aardvark clues were posted on Instagram, and these are a few of my early guesses 🐾

Note: updated pic to include Amazing Grace Adams

I really loved this! My only problem was that the summary on Goodreads gives TOO much away, including what I'd see as a bit of a twist later in the book. So if you read her prior book (Unexpectedly Mine) and enjoy it, I'd strongly recommend going into this one, about Griffin's younger sister, completely blind. There's age gap, brother's boss, and 🌶🌶🌶. I inhaled it!

Never have I ever DOUBLED my yearly reading goal! And pumpkin spice season has barely started, no less! 🤯🍂

I really enjoyed this for the most part! The 🌶 was 🔥 that's for sure. But the third act conflict felt forced and bizarre, and it was definitely longer than it needed to be. 3.5⭐️

This was such a pleasant surprise! A little bit Magic Mike meets drunken Vegas wedding. And because Emma is a wedding dress designer on the cusp of a big deal with a major retailer, this drunken marriage turns into a fake dating (fake/real? marriage) for appearances, turned very real feelings. Super steamy with slow burn elements. And I LOVED Griffin. He can give me a lap dance any day.

GULP. When fraternity/sorority rivals Colin and Madison find themselves kicked out of their respective houses and in need of fast cash and a place to live, they suddenly find themselves - ahem - auditioning for the same, shall we say, adult entertainment company? So this is like an enemies to porn star coworkers to actual lovers vibe. And the SPICE is off the charts, Kindle smoking hot. I mean, hey, sometimes a girl just needs her smut fix
🌶🤭🔥

Looking at the 3 "word search" clues from #BOTM (friends, chef, lovers) - I'm throwing this book out as my official guess. The description gives a nod to all of the words and it sounds really good! ??‍?

An update on my home library! I'm in love 😍

(I still need to shuffle some books around, get them more in alphabetical order for my own sanity. Right now I've got things grouped by genre and tried to keep each author grouped together within the genre, but it was slow going getting everything out of boxes so there's room for improvement 😆)

This was a soft pick for me. I absolutely loved the premise of two people in the process of trying to gain custody of their younger siblings being paired together as roommates to help meet the income requirements for CPA. The characters and their backstories were great, but the chemistry felt a bit forced and slow at times. Great story, great representation, and I still love this author, I just wasn't as obsessed as I was with her last book.

Welp, gotta add a new goalie to my fantasy hockey roster 😍 - I loved this one! Both MCs had compelling backstories, and the chemistry and spice was great. My only complaint is that it was a bit longer than it needed to be. 4.5⭐️

A while back I posted some of the embosser options I was considering... and I realized I forgot to post the one I ended up picking, so here it is! It's been fun breaking it in as I use it on ALL of my books while attempting to unpack and make some semblance of order out of the piles 😆

This book isn't perfect, but I loved it anyway. Enemies to lovers with a bit of a hockey "You've Got Mail" type twist. Nova is the captain of the hockey team and Maddie's brother's teammate, and there's a lot of bad blood given familial history. When Maddie accidentally texts the wrong number and starts up a regular convo with the charming mystery man, Nova is the LAST person she would guess she's talking to. Entertaining and ?!

Two #BOTM spoilers for September! (Though it's unclear if they're main picks or add-ons) 📚

I'd give this a soft pick (3.5 ⭐️) mostly because the initial sexual tension was lacking and then it was almost like BOOM let's hook up. Broody cop and single dad falls for the younger nanny (and his boss's daughter). She gets on his nerves, but she's his last resort given that she speaks ASL and his daughter is deaf. He goes from "tolerating" her to wanting her in a bit of a clunky way. But once the ? started it was really good from there!

📣 PSA: New Tana French incoming! Woohoo! #coverreveal

Pub date: 3/5/24 ⏱

Ok, I couldn't resist posting one more status report of my beautiful new shelves for my home library. Gahhhh. Once I had 9' ceilings I just KNEW I had to fulfill my lifelong dream of floor to ceiling shelves with a ladder. I am so excited I could cry. The next pic I post will be after I've loaded up the shelves, and I'll show you from the other angle so you can get the full effect of the furniture and decorations I picked 🥰

It's a glorious day in my house! My built-ins are being installed today 😆📚

Oh my goodness, y'all, THIS BOOK. Soooooo good. The PwD representation was done so thoughtfully, and the epic chemistry and LOVE between these pages felt so authentic. I won't say too much about the plot bc I went in blind and it made it *that* much better. The steam and humor and seriousness was all balanced so well and now I need to devour ALL of the author's other books posthaste ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

He's her ex's broody older brother. And she's his best friend's little sister. So when Beckett is asked to help renovate the Sullivan family farmhouse, Kate balks at having to be in close proximity to the brother of the man who broke her heart. The enemies to lovers, small town, grump angle was 🔥. And the 🌶 was perfection! (I also give bonus points for the hunky cover model - hubba hubba 😍)

Another excellent, steamy addition to the Queen's Cove series! This one has been lingering on the fringes through all of the other books, since Olivia has been VERY vocal about her hatred for her former best friend (and youngest Rhodes brother), Finn. In their story, we finally figured out what broke them apart as kids, and watched them grow into the romantic love that neither of them wanted to acknowledge for so long. STEAM ON STEAM ON STEAM 🔥

Oh my gosh, y'all, my entire heart goes out to Hawaii and everyone being impacted by the tragedy happening right now in Maui and beyond. I can't even begin to imagine 💔

@DebinHawaii - I hope you're ok and am sending love and light to you and your nearest and dearest ❤️

I've made donations and wanted to share some organizations in case anyone feels compelled:
www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong AND https://mauifoodbank.org/donate/

I've been a bit MIA lately (apparently missed the great "missing pic" debacle of 2023), but I'm officially moved into my new home and have been nesting and loving it! A bit overwhelming (in a good way) but I'm so excited to have bought it for MYSELF and that I get to decorate however I damn well please. I'm OBSESSED with the view from my screened porch. And someone's coming to build my library shelves on Fri and then it'll *really* be home ?

This little addition on the #BOTM app gave me a chuckle. Their editorial team just had the random idea to whip up songs that pair with the picks?

Hockey romance just never gets old for me! Nash and Violet dated during freshman year, and it went up in flames. When Vi, a sports therapy student, gets placed on the men's hockey team for her practical senior year, she's forced into constantly being in close proximity with her ex. The chemistry is DEFINITELY still there (with some light kink vibes), but can they work through the issues that once drove them apart and go the distance? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was 5 for 5 in my early #Aardvark predictions! ?

I ended up going with these three... because my TBR is not long enough as it is (being sarcastic, obvy), and my new house is done FINALLY so one of my first projects will be transforming the "den" into my home library, giving me a free pass (in my head) to treat myself to ALL THE BOOKS I WANT ?

The August #BOTM add-ons got me! 📚

This is a cute New Adult hockey romance, but more of a soft pick for me (not nearly as strong as the previous 2 in the series). There's fake dating with a bit of a Can't Buy Me Love vibe, initiated after an embarrassing viral video has the whole campus wagging their tongues about Dahlia being the girl who "wants to climb Felix like a tree". The burn is SLOWWW, as Dahlia hasn't even been kissed before said "fake dating" commences. Good, not great.

#BOTM accidentally posted their main picks for a brief moment before taking them back down. I assume they'll go up for real tomorrow, but here they are in case you want to start thinking about it early!

(PS: the tagged book is a memoir that sounds really good! I know a lot of you always wish they picked more nonfiction 🤗)

This series keeps getting better and better! I LOVED HOLDEN RHODES and his grumpy, secret romantic self. Super duper steamy, so many feels, he falls first. A whole lot to love in this 🌶 book!

(Not sure why the third of the series is skipped in the Litsy database though, so I'm tagging the previous, equally amazing, book)

What a FANTASTIC small town romance, featuring a successful cowgirl going through a rough patch and struggling to (literally) get back in the saddle, and a hunky cowboy (plus older brother's best friend) who suddenly starts to see her in a whole new light when she takes a break from the rodeo circuit and comes home to Wyoming. Don't let the cover fool you - there's plenty of delectable steam and dirty talk 🤭. Only negative is that it's a debut 😭

After today's new #Aardvark hints, I swapped out two of my previous guesses! We'll see if these hold as we get new clues, but these feel pretty solid with the "similar book vibes" clue ?️?‍♀️

Holy crap! The taboo romance gods were shining down on this one, I think I need some smelling salts to revive me from my fainting spell STAT. Certainly not for everyone (super duper spicy ? and may offend those who are religious), but I absolutely inhaled it and wished I could go back for seconds. I'll be (not so patiently) waiting for the next Goode brother's story in Feb!

PS: this is WAY better than the overhyped "Priest" - read this instead!

The first #Aardvark hint is out, and it's the cover color clue. Always a bit of a shot in the dark, and tomorrow's clue culd throw every single one out the window, but this is my first stab at guessing predictions! (Realistically I don't think they'd have 2 romances, so I'm guessing either With Love From Cold World or Business or Pleasure is out 🤔)