definitely, possibly, maybe

meet zoe king: chess champion; origami master; sister to mae; completely and utterly afraid to leave her house.  then there's jackson: homeless, but driven; smart about math and physics; wants to get a degree in astronomy; totally into zoe.  when jackson is hired to be zoe's tutor, he's thrilled to finally have an in to talk to her. zoe, on the other hand, is trying not to have a panic attack. but jackson wants to help zoe. as he begins to get a fuller picture of her issues, he wants to assist her in overcoming them. and he does provide a lot of motivation for her. paper girl   explores these really interesting characters in a really engaging way. i loved jackson and zoe. homeless and homebound, they should seem like total opposites, but they fit each other in just the right way. **paper girl will publish on december 4, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (entangled teen) in...

this part is a little interlude-y, but it couldn't be helped.

if you just said to a random person that you just picked up a "bait shop rom-com" they might look at you like you were a little bit crazy. and if you explained it's from the same author who wrote the "tire shop rom-com" they may also still look at you funny. but here's the absolutely fantastic thing, the follow up to the non-sequitur about the bait-shop rom-com is "it's so good, you have to read it." guys, next in line  is so good. i loved sam so much. he was so funny and grumpy and charming in wait with me . and he's perfection in next in line . like when maggie takes a while to figure things out i was dying because he was the perfect hero. i honestly can't wait to get my hands on the audiobook, because i can only imagine how swoony i will feel listening to this. it's also really funny, i definitely laughed out loud several times. the longest and hardest at the whole master baiter joke. i still am not sure if maggie got ...

after a bad breakup, involving walking in on her fiancé having sex with her best friend, olivia watts is looking for something different. when she comes across a special kind of dating service,  one that happens to pair dominants to submissives, she decides that it's the perfectly inappropriate  time to explore her sexual fantasies. when she's paired with state senator, noah grant, it feels too good to be true. because their chemistry is immediately off the charts and their connection deep enough for the senator to start breaking all kinds of rules he has in place for relationships like this. that kind of instant connection can be wildly romantic to read about, but maybe in this case it's a little too insta-love? like this isn't something i normally complain about, where i see others hate on it, but something about this pairing felt like things happened too quickly. i felt like the characters were telling me more about their amazing connection than showing me t...

set during navy seals bud/s training, loving a warrior  is a slow-burn romance between two leads who have chemistry so explosive they nearly tear each other to pieces before they figure it out. shane hovland and matt knytych have a lot to prove to themselves, to their families, to their teammates before training is over.  the rivalry that sparks up between them is enough to keep them strong throughout training, but it's also what keeps them apart. teammates can't be in romantic relationships with each other. not that either of them is looking for a relationship. i'm not kidding when i say this is a total slow burn of a story, but the deep emotions and feelings that these characters feel for each other. the understanding and bond that they share, you believe it because they endure the unendurable and hold each other up in the end. i enjoyed this romance and loved these two characters together. **loving a warrior will publish on november 26, 2018. i recei...

the youngest fernández sister, lilí meets her match in diego reyes in their perfect melody . at cross purposes when they first meet when trying to manage a domestic violence situation, he's a cop with the chicago pd and she helps run a center for battered women. they are both principled and strong-willed, and have so much in common that it's crazy how often they find themselves on opposite sides of an argument. mainly it's because where lilí is reckless and impulsive and giving, diego is cautious and overprotective and strong. but they have such a strong sense of social conscience and justice. at the end of the day, they make perfect sense together. and having them figure all that out is just lovely to read. i will miss this family, but can't wait to see what is next for this author, her books are one-click buys for me. **their perfect melody will publish on november 27, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/kensington books (zebr...

paul barstowe, now duke of southart, was a charming, possibly misunderstood villain in the earlier novels in this series, so in the good, the bad, and the duke  he's up for redemption. and you guys, he's possibly the absolute best? i mean, i'm also clearly a huge sucker for reformed bad boys. a fact that's been well-established here. but i love a hero who is complicated and imperfect. i love that the romance is partly about how much he would do for the woman he loves. there's something heady and delightful about that. because from the moment this story opens, it's clear that paul will do what ever he can for daphne. that somehow, some way, she's caught his eye and he's never not seen her. and she sees him too. she sees his imperfections, she knows he's done wrong, but she also sees how hard he tries to make things right. how deep his sense of honor runs, and she simply can't stop herself for loving him for it. this was such an enjoyable r...

book 3 in the highland hearts series, tempting the highland spy , finds harrison macmasters finding his match in jewel thief gracie mae winters. they'd shared an interlude at a wedding earlier in the series, and she was the one girl who got away. forced to work together to solve the murder of an american tycoon, harrison and grace must find a way to forget their past connection. but the longer they are forced to pretend to be married, the more both of them wishes that there could be a different ending to their story. harrison is kind of a dreamboat hero, so it's easy to swoon over him and grace together. i can't wait to see who's turn will be next in this series. **tempting the highland spy will publish on november 26, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (amara) in exchange for my honest review. 

the bibliophile  is about a bookish young man who is sold into in servitude by his father. the man who is in charge of his is a rough, uncouth farmer, a man of few words, but also a man of great kindness. the whole thing is rather sweet, and somewhat strange and icky, but i suppose in the end nat belongs with cayuse jem and who am i to say otherwise. maybe if this had been in not-journal style i would have liked it a little more? i don't know. i didn't fall in love with this one. **the bibliophile will publish on november 26, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/ninestar press in exchange for my honest review. 

so i can't remember if i mentioned this earlier, but this fic was actually unfinished. so part 7 was the last of the original content i had. everything from part 8 on is new material. it's a little nerve-wracking to admit this, because i'm going to have to own my choppy writing as something new and not something old, but what can be done. maybe i can say i'm matching what came before on the page? anyway, happy thanksgiving! read on after the jump...