Something about the way this was constructed felt distant, which was odd considering the journal-entry style. Then at about 3/4 through, there was a LOOP thrown. In retrospect I can see the hints but it was still pretty confusing. The book wrapped sweetly, but I wouldn't say I enjoyed my read.

A satisfying novel about family, grief, hope, rock bands and love. I really like Ashley Winstead and her complex characters and writing.

I loved this book. It was so well-paced for me. It did some good work with supportive characters and family. The characters were imperfect to others and themselves, and it really made me feel.

There's grief wound through and it's the kind that needs to be acknowledged to give new leaves a chance to turn over. It's extremely effective and it's interesting to see characters have their relationships develop to those who have died, in this case, this drives a bit of Derek's motivations.

Dylan is equally interesting, athletic but never fitting the mold with his jock elder brothers. he works sprints as a developer with ADHD who both made something of the tendency to hyper focus and manages the ADHD imperfectly.

What results is friction, forced proximity, and growing tension and understanding. It's really lovely, and it feels organic and mature

I didn't realize this author has a prior book so I look forward to that now.

came to this book partially because of an interview I saw that it was suggested for "realistic" gay romance. There's more talk of prepping & perhaps the beats sexually are slightly different but the romance feels very typical. Too typical, if I'm being honest.

I'll likely steer clear of the authors adult books, while I loved it for the culture (restaurant, Iranian protagonist, Strong family ties) I think I would enjoy it more in Khorram's initial genre - YA. ESPECIALLY because tonally, that's how the writing felt.

"nope. My career and my love life are over. Nothing the people at Garnier Fructus shampoo factory can do about that."

Noah is starting over. He doesn't really know it, but his Broadway writing debut flops, and he heads home for an extended period to be with his family who is caring for his dad.

And as usual, returning to Noah's roots reminds him of all the values he holds close to his heart and along the way who he has misjudged as a defensive adult who grew up with homophobia a-plenty.

This book both made me laugh and cry and was such a love letter to imperfect but perfect for you families, community theater, and big-hearted friends.

It was a great read with a wonderfully neurotic lead and a very grounded open-hearted cast around him.

DNF at 40% - this is not interesting, the way the romance is built doesn't "blend" and the telling it's so heavy handed is best unbearable. There needs to be easy more shows of intimacy growth with this level of instalove. A total miss for me.

Niche? Maybe. But I think this may be more universal than Alexis Hall expected. We all straddle the virtual and the physical worlds, and quite frankly, many readers probably understand this more than most.

I'm not a gamer, but young enough not to pan it as a valid social activity. I'm also old enough to understand it, and how it blossoms from chat rooms of yore.

All this to say will non gamers get it? Not everything, I guess, there's some pretty inner stuff, but we deal with that in Hall books in general. The theme overall works generally, so don't let the group stop you, it's got an extensive glossary + a level of unique charm.

Anyway, I was overall delighted by this book. It's "new adult" without immaturity. It's wildly age appropriate, it's about friendship. It gently explored the sometimes toxic aspects of geekdom asking with those personalities.

That ending might be one of my all-times.

This was cute in the typical ways her books are cute but a little less for me other than being set in the Twin Cities. I just didn't find the characters as well drawn or the development as solid as some of Painter's prior YA. I'll keep reading bc she has the potential to give that fizzy fun feeling and we all need more of that.

The Minnesota knowledge was pretty solid, which surprised me since it was her first book set here as far as I know.

Every year, there's a book that takes 1 year to finish or more. Just the kind I like to read slowly.

A pleasant enough story with some pacing issues for me.

A million blessings to Catherine Walsh for writing a bingeable, escapist book that felt like a love letter to a fandom, a criticism to a fandom, a definite love letter to editors (I don't write but we do notice!), and a compelling look at writing (insert authors writing about authors meme). Honestly, this was an interesting take on craft and has us basically imaging what if GRRM dies before ASOIAF finished 9/10 books but wanted it written posthumously. Talk about the fantasy (I kid, somewhat bc my hope for that is buried somewhere well before the finale of the series that I quit watching).

Anyway, I could've used a few more flaws and a little more connection and intimacy to draw the couple together. But I'm taking this for what it is: pleasant, funny, and a very readable book.

I breathe a sigh of relief as I recall what reading a book that is tight and well edited feels like. Both leads charming, a bit funny, very sweet. The only weakness for me is that the mystery didn't feel as suspenseful toward the last 3rd. Could've been a me thing. I would really love to read more about Challice too!

I was the lone person so far in my buddy group to rate this over a 3 and it occurred to me part of it may have been world building and context of prior novels. Alternatively, it could be my expectations were met by this author in a similar fashion as usual: characters full of machinations and survival trying to figure out how to do partnership. Regardless, my suggestion is to read the prior books.

While I thought the first third was dense with the religious backdrop of the story, there was enough sparkle for me to hint at the budding romance. The pacing ultimately wasn't my favorite but for me this really hit a stride right around 30-45% I think.

While I would've preferred more room for the romance to breathe, and this is slightly lower rated because William's characterization was slightly too off page (prior books knowledge?) or absent, it is slightly lower. I found Margaret flawed, fallible and fascinating in her aims and in her growth as a character. She didn't go as far to steal the show, and Will's rich history and family background helped his development along the way. However, in the end the other hindrance were just the beats, it was too front loaded and a little dry on historical background.

A lot of good things with this book but didn't hit like the others I've read. Fit my mood though, very NA/YA feeling right now
Edit

This book suffered from a bit of disjointed structure. I don't mind - I even like vignette-style or flashback chapters, but the chapters were too detailed and long to pack the emotional punch. Overall, the style hit me as forced angst with no good obstacles/reason shown. Sometimes it just didn't make a lot of sense. Most of all, I didn't. really enjoy it at as a read...it was a bit of a slog and one that by 50% I knew I needed to pack in but didn't. The hype train got me (read: not being on the right sites and seeing people really liked this. I should know by now.)

I know some people did not care and this, and it's clearly taylor-travis-inspired. Neither of whom inspire me much (sorry!) at least not since 1989.

I think we are so used to sanitized characters or *nice* characters with shit to work through or flaws to overcome.

I don't think this book is built to satisfy the "will they won't they" so much as it is a hard look at the transaction of romance between the richest people, and a woman, Lacey, who is quite frankly a "nice" but ruthless capitalist hellbent on her image.

Jimmy, at the end of his career, is famous but not by the same degree and he can come across as resentful, skeptical and yet accepting of this. Like, they don't make it easy?

He says harsh but true shit to Lacey, who also says condescending but true shit to him. From "don't you think you feed this level of engagement from fans" (paraphrasing to which lacey really responded -again paraphrasing - that she obviously did. She built an empire by being calculated and smart as hell.

They are both right, and they didn't communicate super effectively. They are clearly hot for each other, and while I could use more build, it was there, I just put the book down a couple times to finish library loans.

Overall, I enjoyed it, and the reviews nearly turned me away. Contugo's romance border on edgy and are usually somewhat uncomfortable. The books I've read make fame a complication. Not sure why some of her books don't appeal since in them a) celebrity isn't appealing, which is show more appealing to me and b) they give good characters, but they do keep me engaged.

While this is all true, and I think this book is better than mid, it still only rises to a 3 for me. I wanted to have more depth and watch then work a little harder for a resolution. I did really love the ending though. show less

I had high hopes when I saw 3rd person but the hope was fairly quickly smothered in a few chapters.

Characters dialogue was often a way to explain to the reader and therefore didn't read as organic. This was usually after exposition from the character's perspective telling us the same thing. I thought it might ease up, but it just gets worse when Sage and Theo are "getting to know each other" - read: telling each other their deepest vulnerabilities in a way that feels neither organic nor interesting. It doesn't serve any intimacy building purpose.

It misses the romance rhythm somehow, and the sex feels wedged in there.

There's not much development in supporting characters or subplot. Their inclusion felt checklist-driven and did not help us understand the character better.

The book felt almost clinical and failed to move me as a reader. Had it not been an ARC I would not have finished. I often like "everyday" romances but this one between an author (insert meme of authors writing authors here) and a rising actor wasn't striving for the everyday intimacy or obstacles, it was just boring.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC, which has clearly not influenced my review.

A strong, cozy collection with very lovely first and last stories in particular. Rewarding read in just chapters each that have full personalities and good supporting characters.

Sadly despite the frigid temperatures, this isn't my brand of cozy. I am also not really getting along with the writing (aside from the first chapter), it tends to lean heavily on over processing and telling.

Just another one of those, yep, it's me/us books :(

I entered some kind of dimension with the library where all my holds coming up were second chance plus friends to lovers. Not sure what's going on there, or if this type of book has been especially popular this year, but Joni and Ren worked very well for me overall.

The book is told in dual timelines, so you don't exactly know what happened in the first portion of the book that ruined Joni and Ren's friendship. Initially, this approach felt clunky and easy to detach from--i enjoyed both timelines but it felt like they lost momentum. However, as the book progressed and the past timeline was getting closer and closer, it added a level of suspense. Not always my favorite tactic to building a romance, but it was effective. To some extent, it smacked of People We Meet on Vacation but I liked the way this was executed better.

There were plenty of imperfections in the arc, some things unnecessary but so much was good. I loved watching Joni discover her love for Ren, and he was a very romantic lead. Maybe too much -- the risk with this kind of story and it being first person is that the hero can just be everything the main character needs, and aside from a couple of chapters, that was an issue with this book. In fact, I would have loved to be equally tortured by Ren's perspective and feel like the emotional payoff would be higher.

This was a pleasant read, I would recommend it for contemporary first person POV fans. I am looking forward to more from the author.

Structurally and emotionally, this was trending to a high 4 in the first part of this book. 60-70% maybe even. But the grudges, the feelings, and the fact that the main characters hadn't seen each other in 15 years did not make it a believable conflict toward the end of this read. It suddenly shifted to sulky, manufactured and overblown. Oddly, it didn't really happen until this point for me. I bought Nina & Quentin's bittersweet dynamic through and through until it became the obstacle. It cratered the pacing and left me wholly unsatisfied in what was a hopeful starting over book full of emotional tension and humor initially. Bummer.

Pacing was off, and though it was a pleasant and fun read for about 30% it is like reading Julie Anne Longs magical elements but having them explained so you don't miss the meaning.

While I always struggle with Comfort's pacing, once the books hit their stride they really do. I believe the characterization will feel careful, if not distant in some ways. In the end, I really enjoyed this unique game show opposites& rivals attract.

I struggled with about 1/3 of this book just because the main character,Arthur, was so out of sorts I felt that way too. Once some of connections were solidifying-mostly Arthur's to himself-it was a binge.

Its historical context was so unique: 70s glam rock & queer awakenings....

And VERY twin cities based. The history was spectacular, as was the cast of characters here, with a slight weakness due to Eve's character arc. Still, she serves a proper foil and catalyst in the novel. I find myself thinking, "she's right but I don't really like her and/or I'm not comfortable." She was challenging, but the other issue with her is that she was righteous and explained herself, which may have been more effective through more action.

Arthur and James are wonderful together as the awareness builds, and in a lot of ways it scratched an intimacy itch, but I also see where I wanted more from their interactions - more quiet moments.

Arthur's parents are fantastic and represent a population I wasn't familiar with in Minnesota before the reading of this book.

I must thank the author for the footnotes - and the so very Minneapolis feel. I lived being put right where they are!

To borrow from https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3... review of this book (her points about romance beats in f/f romance are spot on, as are points about why I love milans writing) and KJ Charles's review that calls this "frothy with a side of rage" (I'm likely paraphrasing) - they have said all the things I did not feel compelled to review here. Sadly, I'm struggling to link directly to either review or I would have.

I will probably always read Kristen Callihan. Her books always make me feel light and bubbly, I like her characters - the whole ensemble.

Here, heavy effort was put into May and June, but they don't feel super distinct. Nor does March. I liked their interplay but there's not much in the way of flaws or developing the characters. They give a bit of context and a bit of a character rough -in for the principals but for so much page space I felt it could be better fleshed out.

Which brings me to the leads. Penelope, the reserved heroine, and August the seemingly-starchy but not. There's a comfort in callihans humor and the good nature of her leads, but they really felt a little too drawn for each other here. And at the end, that's exactly so.

I did read it non-stop and it was comforting. It didn't rise to the heights of my favorite Callihan new adult/sports romances, but that may be because they are great for me in the context they were in. This feels a little stuck in that place-while having a lot of content but being a bit underdeveloped. If you're a Callihan fan, pick it up. This novel is more satisfying and engaging than many sports romances.

I really enjoyed many aspects of this book, emotional abuse, grief and learning disabilities are center. And I thought that was slightly too much.

My primary complaint about unloved is the same as unsteady: there soo much going on. There are still subplots I didn't mention that are weighty. It detracted a bit from the lovely central story: two smart, driven people who just want to be loved get to know the real version of each other. This book was best in those moments.

The meat of this isn't the romance, but Harriet dealing with her shit. I think that's typically the case, and I the book worked really well. Because Harriet is going through so much shit the slow burn doesn't really even ignite but I still found emotional payoff in it.

I wanted a bit more from all the characters, but I appreciate that Mcfarlane is always centering two kinds of love: self and friends. Lorna is a friend I want to be!

Exactly how you think this is going to feel based on the title.

Destroyed this in one day. It was fun! I'll also forget most of it....