Bet the Farm by Staci Hart

Contemporary romance

Available on Kindle Unlimited. I’ve been on a roll lately with really great romance novels! This one is close to five stars but not quite because I was disappointed in how one of the characters reacted when push came to shove. Other than that, this book is a pure joy. It’s set on a farm so there are cute animals all over the place and lots of funny mishaps. I love how Olivia is determined to make the farm her home and contribute what she can, even though that’s not the typical physical labor Jake is doing to keep the farm running. While it’s a fun, sexy romp, the book also tackles heavy topics including loss, grief, financial struggle, and immigration. The author did a fantastic job balancing the light with the dark. I highly recommend this one and am going to seek out more from this author right away!

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

Essays

I’ve enjoyed all of John Green’s novels but I didn’t know much about him before reading this essay collection. Now I know A LOT about him and I like him a great deal. This is a brilliant idea for an essay collection. Reviewing significant (and some not so much) parts of the human experience on a five star scale is just a plain funny thing to do. The ratings come at the end of in depth pieces that are well researched, some quite emotional. And then all of a sudden you get “and I give this thing two stars.” It balances out the heavy topics and it’s just such an American thing to do. John covers all sorts of topics here. Some of my favorites were Canada Geese, Scratch & sniff stickers, The Hall of Presidents, and Kentucky Bluegrass. I agreed with him on some subjects and disagreed on others but I still enjoyed each essay. I highly recommend this one for readers of memoir and essays.

Bath Haus by PJ Vernon

Thriller/Audiobook I avoided this book for a while because I thought it’d be too scary for me. I’m glad I finally took a chance on it. The audio book format was perfect, and the two narrators did great jobs bringing life to each character. I don’t want to give away the plot because experiencing it as it unfolds makes is best. This story is creepy AF. My only complaint is it moves pretty slowly. It kept me engaged from start to finish. I highly recommend for readers of thrillers.

For the Love of April French

Contemporary romance/LGBTQ+

This was an absolute delight in every way. April is a trans woman who doesn’t believe she is worthy of love or a long term relationship. Dennis is smitten with her and determined to show her he’s in it for the long haul. Dennis hasn’t dated a trans woman before so he had to learn about Frankie’s body and what her life is like. I appreciated all the details and learned a lot along with Dennis. It’s a kinky book, with lots of sex, and it’s also sweet. It covers some heavy territory, so don’t expect a light read here but it’s very well done and was a wonderful reading experience all the way through. I highly recommend it for readers of LGBTQ+ stories and romance.

Currently Reading

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