definitely, possibly, maybe

glow of the fireflies  takes you to firefly valley, a magical place where nature spirits are holding our main character's mother captive and nothing is as it seems. it's a richly imagined world that provides the setting for this young adult novel that straddles the line between fantasy and magical realism. briony learns that her past is full of lies and omissions, and as she searches for the truth her ties to this valley and to a boy named adler are slowly revealed. there's definitely a hint of romance between these two, but it's a slow burn and the focus is just as much on the mystery of briony's past. all in all, this is an enjoyable young adult novel. **glow of the fireflies will publish on october 1, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (entangled teen) in exchange for my honest review. 

what is it about stories about sports rivals taking all that insane heat and chemistry and just falling for each other that makes me all heart eyes?? goalie interference finds ryu mori competing for the starting goalie spot he expected to have tied up based on his prior performance against the cocky emmitt armstrong, a newcomer just moving up from the ahl and winning a calder cup trophy. the animosity between them burns bright and intensely. and then it basically explodes all over the place in hot, angry sex. and once they burn off that initial sexual energy, what emerges is this really amazing relationship where they feel so much but also refuse to give up on their career goals. this sets up a nice conflict when management makes it clear that only one of them will be starting during the playoffs and they both have reasons to really want to be the one who wins. but maybe there's still a way to have everything they want, they just have to think about things a little different...

as someone who loves to read, i genuinely appreciate a writer's gift of prose. the writing in the orchid throne  is lush and builds a rich world filled with intrigue and glitter and dark shadows that push our leads into action, but there is no headlong rush, no sudden leap. you have to have patience to allow this story to unravel. there is so much about fantasy as a genre that appeals to me, but i struggle so often when i read these stories. and i think i've figured out why. i don't have the patience to absorb all the information being imparted, because i would much rather get into the who and what they're doing about it. if you stick with this, you will get there. and if you love description and world-building then this will be one hundred percent up your alley. if you don't then just be warned, it will take a minute for you to decide whether or not you want to. **the orchid throne will publish on september 24, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courte...

owen han made a promise to himself after surviving testicular cancer. he was going to live life to find his joy. crossing things off his bucket list became his newest goal, and wintering in the alaskan wilderness is a dream come true. when he is posted to quilleran ramsey's station he's hopeful that the initial spark that lit between them during training will mean good things for the long cold alaskan winter he's signed himself up for. but quill is a tough nut. it's not even that he's closested, although he isn't expressly out, he's just supremely introverted. and has a million and one hang-ups that make relationships a challenge. he likes owen, but he's also terrified of the emotional devastation owen's absence will wreak on his already vulnerable heart. because quill is all heart. he seems like his is all gruff and prickles, but he is the sweetest cinnamon roll who ever rolled. anyway, arctic heat  is a clear case of opposites attract and fin...

emily birmingham is starting over. and she has big dreams. ones that will allow her to reach all the potential she's wasted on her ungrateful family. remodeling her grandmother's old home into a bread & breakfast that will launch her foray into the hospitality business is not going to be a small task, lucky for her cooper maverick is more than up to it. he finds emily charming if somewhat eccentric, but he's drawn to her in some inexplicable way. enough to risk asking her out, something he hadn't thought he'd ever be ready to do after losing his first love at tragically young age. when emily insists on the boyfriend contract , he figures he has nothing to lose by signing it. but soon his feelings and hers are more complicated than what can be dictated by a piece of paper. and if they'd only get out of their own way, they'd figure out how to get to this happily ever after place. **the boyfriend contract will publish on september 23, 2019. i receiv...

when rideshare driver chloe lucks into picking up hottie logan on his way to the airport in driving me wild , she enjoys the eye candy and figures she'll never see him again. but when a lost pair of keys turns up with a flash drive on it, she's thrilled to realize that logan is the rightful owner. he needs the information on the flash drive for a business meeting in finland. so he makes chloe an incredible offer. if she'll meet him in helsinki, he'll fund her a couple days vacation for the trouble. chloe isn't usually one to take risks, but this opportunity is too one in a million to say no to. and what comes of the unexpected trip is beyond her greatest dreams. **driving me wild will publish on september 16, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (embrace) in exchange for my honest review. 

dine with me  finds grumpy chef miller sykes closing his restaurant and giving up on his dreams, he's been diagnosed with throat cancer and refuses treatment given the risk of losing his sense of taste. what's the point of life if he loses the one sense he can't live without. to celebrate the end of his life he decides to take a farewell tour of his favorite restaurants and invites a fellow foodie to join him on the adventure. well invites is kind of an exaggeration, he needs a financial backer for the journey and it just so happens dr. clancy rhodes's mother runs a very exclusive travel agency. and given clancy just having completed his residency, he's been gifted the trip of his dreams, joining miller on his adventure. but he isn't informed that miller is sick. miller intends to keep it a secret from everyone. of course, in a fortuitious coincidence, clancy just happens to have an interest in oncology. so it's only a matter of time before he susses out...

the follow up to seventh born , mirror bound , might suffer a bit of sophomore slump in that it's a book that is perhaps trying to do too much. the fantasy, the magic, the forbidden romance are all there, but so is the shadowy government subplot and more magical rules and exams and schooling. but all of these elements are still good. the story is still enjoyable and the chemistry between sera and nik is still so compelling. just make sure you pick up book one before this one, as it is definitely part of a series and you will be missing something if you haven't read what came before. **mirror bound will publish on september 10, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (entangled teen) in exchange for my honest review. 

breathe out slow  is full of grief, of loss, of hope for what comes after the pain of losing someone you love. ryan fell in love with his best friend and imagined they'd have a future together and then it was just gone. and it was senseless and devastating. a year later ryan is still picking up the pieces after chris's death. he hasn't moved on. and he's just going through the motions. his weekend m.o. of getting blind drunk in his dorm room every weekend is his way of coping. it's not working. one night he goes out and gets wasted. and roofied. enter liam doyle. he saves ryan from a potential assault and takes him to the hospital. and then he gives ryan his number and tells him to call for any reason. there's something about ryan that speaks to liam. he's just so lost. and liam worries. and then one night, ryan needs saving again. and liam shows up. and then he keeps showing up. and slowly ryan starts to realize that life hasn't stopped. that hi...

astrophysicist olivia romano needs a genius to help her figure out the coding to her research project. she might be a genius when it comes to searching the cosmos for proto-black holes, but computer programming is a little outside her area of expertise. luckily in her little corner of brooklyn, there's always someone who knows someone, and nicholas disantis might be the perfect guy for figuring out how to program an algorithm to search for something a telescope doesn't know it's seen. i have to admit that maybe the fact that some of love and the laws of motion  was set in an astronomy department had me predisposed to like this. though i will say, unlike the evil and horrendous grad students and advisors depicted in this story, my experience in astronomy departments, and really there's only the one i work at, is that everyone is super kind and nice. people care about each other's work and research and celebrate accomplishments. needless to say, that's not w...

when addie carlisle kind of kidnaps sawyer mcbain into being her plus one at a charity event at the start of catching her heart , she's surprised by how little he actually complains about it. sawyer is known around the baseball team as being a grumpy loner. but there's something about addie that brings him out of his shell. her warmth, her kindness and caring, give sawyer something to look forward to. even as the stress of his waning career, the fact that he knows his knees won't hold him up forever, and that as the team's veteran catcher he'll have to cede his roster spot to someone younger eventually. that addie works for the team management and happens to be the owner's best friend/assistant is also a bit of a stumbling block. sawyer wants to believe that he can trust addie, but he's been burned before. his mother and brother have abused his trust one time too many. but addie isn't like anyone else in his life. she might actually be the one pers...

i've read jenn bennett's contemporaries, so the lady rogue  is definitely a little bit different than her usual work. but that doesn't mean it's less enjoyable. set in the 1930s, this historical ya folllows theodora fox on an journey to find her missing father with her annoying, yet charming ex, huxley gallagher. this sets off a hunt for vlad the impaler's ring across the carpathian mountains, and the exotic settings and magical atmosphere, the dangerous men on their tale and unresolved feelings hanging between theo and huck and you have the makings of one heck of a road trip. there is a lot that happens here, so if you like plot-driven stories with a lead who takes no prisoners and a slight hint of romance and magic then you are in luck. **the lady rogue will publish on september 3, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/simon and schuster children's publishing (simon pulse) in exchange for my honest review 

stuck with you is cute young adult romance follows caleb gray and the girl he grew up with, catie dixon. their parents were best friends forever and so from birth it was assumed that at some point caleb and catie would end up together. caleb is an introvert and a follow the rules kind of guy. and catie is relentless and restless. both of them feel somewhat trapped by their parents' dreams for them. so it makes sense that for so long they mostly annoyed each other to no end, instead of actually getting along. but when they are forced to spend a summer together, the chemistry between them is unmistakable. but life and their parents' dreams and their own dreams have them headed in different directions. can they even make things work? is it worth it? **stuck with you will publish on september 2, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (entangled: crush) in exchange for my honest review.