Love & Romance

Audiobook: Fourth Wing

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by Rebecca Yarros
Read by Rebecca Soler & Teddy Hamilton
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Content: It’s super sweary, super violent, and lots of on-screen sexytimes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Violet Sorrengail was supposed to be a scribe. But then her father passed away and her mother – who is the general in charge of the flight battle school – has different plans for her. Violet – frail, sickly Violet – is given no choice: she has to join the battle school. The place where you either graduate or die. The book takes place over the first year, as Violet learns to navigate the cruelties of the school, makes – and loses – friends, and finds an unreasonable attraction to the son of an executed rebel leader, Xaden Riorson.

My first reaction when listening to this? It’s not objectively a good book. Like, the writing is not great. But, it’s a lot of fun. I think it helped that Soler was slightly unhinged reading the book. She was chewing through scenery, which honestly, is what this book needed. It’s not a book to be taken seriously at all. That said, Yarros is a good storyteller. There was a lot of action, the battle scenes were pretty intense, and there were some nice surprises as well. I will probably read the second book in the series, just to see where it goes.

So, do I respect this book? No. Will I recommend it? Depends on the person. Do I understand why it’s the Big Thing that it is? Oh yeah. I get it now.

Audiobook: Business or Pleasure

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by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Read by Hathaway Lee
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Content: Oh, there’s sooo much in here. All the f-bombs, all the on-page sex. Very, very spicy. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Chandler is a ghostwriter who is unhappy with her life. So when she meets a guy in a bar after a failed book signing (the author she wrote the book for didn’t even recognize Chandler’s name), she has a one-night stand with him. However, it’s the worst sex she’s ever had. (Or at least had in a long time.) So, when she gets a gig ghostwriting for the C-list actor Finn Walsh, she’s shocked (and a bit embarrassed) that he’s the guy she just slept with. She agrees to take the job, and as they travel from con to con (he’s best known for playing a science nerd on a werewolf show) they get to know each other, and the truth comes out: he’s terrible in bed. He’s a unicorn of a man and wants to know how to get better, so Chandler agrees to give him detailed sex lessons. Practical experience. The problem is: how can she keep her heart out of it?

Oh, this one made me blush! I kept hitting the very detailed, quite graphic sex scenes while at the gym (I’m blushing because I’m exercising, really!). But, honestly? It’s a fun book. It’s super sex-positive, and Chandler stresses in her lessons that communication between partners is vital to having a good experience. I kind of felt like I should be taking notes! But, beyond that, I enjoyed the relationship between Chandler and Finn, and how they pushed each other to become better and more confident people. So, yeah: super spicy, and probably not for everyone. But ultimately, I quite enjoyed it.

The Unhoneymooners

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by Christina Lauren
First sentence: “In the calm before the storm – in this case, the blessed quiet before the bridal suite is overrun by the wedding party – my twin sister stares critically down at a freshly painted shell-pink fingernail and says, ‘I bet you’re relieved I’m not a bridezilla.'”
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Content: There is swearing, including multiple uses of the f-bomb, and an on-screen sex scene. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Olive Torres is sure of one thing: she’s unlucky. Her twin sister is the glamorous one, the successful one, the one who is about to get married to the man of her dreams. And Olive? She just lost her job, she has no luck in dating, and perhaps worst of all: she’s stuck in a florescent green bridesmaid’s dress. So, when everyone at her sister’s wedding gets food poisoning from the buffet, she’s encouraged to go on the non-refundable, non-transferable honeymoon by her sister. The catch: the best man, Ethan, whom Olive despises, has to go too. Determined to make the most of a vacation to Maui, even if it’s with someone she hates (and who hates her), Olive agrees. The thing is: the reality is sometimes vastly different from the perception.

Ah, your classic enemies-to-lovers trope (mixed up with fake marriage – they’re on their “honeymoon” after all – and only one bed) with two people who just loathe each other learning to actually get past perceptions and miscommunications and, well, fall in love. It’s a classic for a reason. I enjoyed the push and pull between Olive and Ethan, and thought their ups and downs were very realistic. I liked the chemistry they had, and the way Olive had to learn to trust herself, and not just fall back on the excuse that she’s “unlucky”. The only thing I wasn’t thrilled with was the fact that Christina Lauren is the pen name of two white women, but Olive and her family are most definitely Latinx. Not a god look, that. Even so, it was a fun little read.

Audiobook: The Dead Romantics

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by Ashley Poston
Read by Eileen Stevens
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Content: There is death, swearing (including multiple f-bombs), and on-screen sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Florence Day has two secrets: she is the ghostwriter for popular romance author Anne Nichols, and she can see ghosts. She also ended a long-term relationship (when he stole her ghost memories and turned them into a best-selling novel) and her father suddenly dies, so she finds herself in her hometown for the first time in 10 years.

So, imagine her surprise when her editor – who she was pretty sure was alive in New York when she left – turns up as a ghost on the doorsteps of her family’s funeral home.

I’ve had this one on my radar since it came out, and a couple of co-workers loved it, but it became more urgent that I read it once I finished The Seven-Year Slip. And, while I don’t think it was as good as that one, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

I like how Poston weaves in deeper themes than the meet-cute and falling-in-love you get in a typical romance. (She does have that, though. It’s just a bonus!) Florence is dealing with the betrayal by her ex, and the feelings of failure and inability to finish the romance she’s supposed to be writing. She’s dealing with the grief of losing her father, and coming to terms with her siblings who are angry that she abandoned the family. She is also falling in love with a ghost, which ha the potential to be really weird, but actually works, and works well.

The best thing about this one, though, is the narrator. She is fabulous. It kept me entertained and pulled into the story, and I loved listening to it. I think The Seven-Year Slip is the better book, but this one is a lot of fun as well.

Audiobook: One Italian Summer

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by Rebecca Serle
Read by Lauren Graham
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Content: There is an off-screen(ish) sex scene and some swearing, including some f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore, though I disagree with that.

Katy’s mother has just died of cancer, and her life is spinning out of control. She feels unmoored (she’s an only child), and she is not sure she wants to stay in the life she (well, honestly: her mother) has built for herself. She and her mom had planned to go spend a couple of weeks in Positano, Italy and so Katy is encouraged by her dad and her husband to go take the trip anyway. It might help with the grief. What she finds, when she gets there is something magical: her mother, age 30, in the summer she spent in Italy. (There’s also a hot American guy she hooks up with, but that’s not really the point.) Over the course of the weeks, Katy finds herself unwinding, and when the Big Reveal comes, she is in a better place to accept it and move on. 

I’ve had this on my TBR (or actually, it was the audiobook to-listen to list) for ages since it first came out. But it seemed like this summer was the time. It’s good on the Italy detail – I got that Katy was having a gorgeous time in a gorgeous place, eating so much yummy food. But, I was annoyed with her relationship with her mother: she let her mother do everything.  She was married! She was an adult! It can’t be healthy. I guess that’s part of her growth arc? I don’t know I didn’t hate it; I loved Graham as the narrator, and I thought it dealt with grief and death extremely well. I guess I was just expecting something, well, fluffier than I got. In the end, though, I was charmed by the Italian landscape. And I liked Katy’s growth. So it wasn’t half-bad.

Audiobook: Kiss Her Once for Me

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by Alison Cochrun
Read by: Natalie Naudus
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Content: It’s a romance, so there are sexytimes. And lots and lots of kissing. Plus swearing, including f-bombs. It’s in the romance section of the bookstore.

Ellie Oliver had one perfect day. It was Christmas Eve, and she was sad that her mother (again) wouldn’t visit her in Portland. She was about to start her dream job. Then, during a snowstorm, she met the perfect woman and spent the perfect day. A year later, though, Ellie’s life is a mess: she was fired from the perfect job, she’s working as a barista in a dive of a coffee shop, and worst of all: she had her heart broken by the perfect woman. So when the landlord of the coffee shop suggests a fake engagement so he can inherit $2 million (and give her 10%) she jumps at the chance. The catch? His sister is said perfect woman who broke Ellie’s heart. In a crazy, event-filled week at the family’s winter cabin, Ellie has to make a choice: the safe, fake marriage and money for true love.

(You can guess which one she chooses.)

The thing about romance books is that it’s the characters that pull you in and keep you interested. Readers basically know how the plot is going to go. And this one, my friends, has some excellent characters. From Ellie herself to the fantastic love interest, Jack, to the high and/or stoned grandmothers. It’s all a lot of fun. And the narrator is just sublime. So, even though I read a Christmas book in July, it was totally worth it. Such fun, such delight, such adorableness.

Audiobook: Unnecessary Drama

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by Nina Kenwood
Read by: Maddy Withington
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Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs, teenage drinking (though it’s legal in Australia), and some off-screen sex. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Brooke is off to her first year of uni, and she just wants a fresh start. Sure, she’s overly anxious and prone to making lists and cleaning when she’s stressed, but now that she’s in Melbourne and away from everything, she’s going to be a New Person. That all falls apart when she discovers that one of the roommates in her shared house is Jesse, the boy from high school who completely dumped on her when she was 14 and has been her nemisis ever since.

You know where this is going, right?

Not only is it a very cute, solid, enemies-to-lovers trope – of course Jesse and Brooke start out hating each other, but slowly become friends. BUT there’s ALSO fake dating! When out at a bar to celebrate their other roommate, Harper’s, birthday, they run into Brooke’s ex-boyfriend, and because she doesn’t want to look like a pathetic fool, she ropes Jesse into being her boyfriend for the night. Except that lights a fire….

There’s also the “no dating roommates” rule at the house…

It’s a lot of cute, silly, fun. Fun that made me laugh out loud and shake my head at the pure anxiousness and need-to-be-in-control that Brooke has. Jesse is a good foil for everything, and he turns out to be really sweet. I love that it’s set during the first year of uni, and talks about the transition from high school to college. And the narrator with her Australian accent was a delight too.

So, yeah, I really liked this one.

Audiobook: Same Time Next Summer

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by Annabel Monaghan
Read by Brittany Pressley and Dan Bittner
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Content: There is some mild swearing, and a couple of f-bombs. There is also some sexy times, but mostly off-screen. It’s in the romance section of the bookstore.

Sam has always felt most alive on the beach at her family’s Long Island summer home. With the waves, the freedom, the long days, and with Wyatt, the boy next door. They even had one spectacular summer where they spent every day together, falling in love. But at the end of that summer, they had a falling out, and now it’s been fourteen years since they’ve seen each other. Sam is back at the beach house with her fiance, Jack, for a week as she is dealing with a misstep at her job and they’re trying to figure out where to get married that October. And guess who’s back next-door? Wyatt, of course, fresh in from LA to help out with a music festival in their beach town.

What does that mean for Sam? Has she gotten over him? Is closure what she needs? Or maybe a whole new lease on life?

This one was really sweet. I liked Sam as a character, and I liked that she learned to come back into herself over the course of the book. It wasn’t as steamy as some of the other ones I’ve read lately, but it went hard for the summertime, hippy living, beach town vibe and it absolutely nailed that. I loved the narrators, and the way they made the characters come alive. It was thoroughly delightful, especially on audio.

Audiobook: Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success

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by Jessica Parra
Read by: Karla Serrato
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Content: There is some kissing. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

Graduation is fast approaching and Rubi Ramos has everything all planned out. She is going to go to Alma college and study pre-law, and do Great Things. The only problem? She’s been waitilsted at Alma. And what she really wants to do is bake. However, for her Cuban immigrant parents who own two bakeries, baking for Rubi isn’t an option. So, Rubi has a plan: she’s going to get a math tutor to help pull her class standing up (who turns out to be really cute), and she’s going to compete in the Bake Off (without her parents knowing) and hopefully win – which comes with a trip to Cuba.

Of course, things don’t go smoothly, and there are bumps along the way.

This was a delightful romp. It’s got a baking competition! It’s got a surfer dude! It’s got immigrant parents! It’s got Cuban heritage! I liked the relationship Rubi had with her parents; they were firm and wanted a lot for Rubi, but in the end weren’t unreasonable about working with what she wanted. I loved Rubi’s friends, and the support system she had. And the whole baking competition – which was quite definintly a reference to the Great British Bake Off – with it’s baking puns and Johnny Oliver judge, was charming and silly.

The narrator was quite good as well, and I enjoyed the time I spent listening to this one. A good, fun, summery YA book.

Audiobook: Darkhearts

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by James L. Sutter
Read by Ramon de Ocampo
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Release date: June 6, 2023
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including quite a few f-bombs, talk of sex, and some tasteful on-screen sex. It will be in the Teen section of the bookstore.

In middle school, David started a band – Darkhearts – with his friends Eli and Chance. They had some success playing gigs in the Seattle area, where they lived, but after a while, David got annoyed with Eli and Chance hogging the spotlight and so quit the band. However, after he left, Darkhearts got huge. Like super huge. And David’s held a grudge ever since because he feels he missed out. 

But, Chance is back in town – Eli died of an overdose, and Chance came for the funeral and to regroup – and wants to reconnect with David. At first, David goes along with it grudgingly, but after a while he realizes something: he really likes Chance. Like really likes Chance. Is he going to be able to get past everything else – Chance’s fame, his own resentment, his father’s concern – and be able to throw himself into this relationship? Does he even want to? 

This was so incredibly delightful. The characters, the depection of a teenage boy band, the cool things they went. David’s best freind, Rachel. The fluidity of his sexuality, and the total non-issue that it was. The romance – and while it kind of followed the beats of a romance novel, I appreciated David’s growth over the whole thing. De Ocampo was a fabulous narrator as well; pulling me into a story that I may have dismissed in print. 

Highly recommended.