What I read this week
This week, whew, my goodness. Work has been more busy than normal. It gets dark at 3:30pm, and sometimes you just want to curl up and watch some mindless TV to shut your brain down after long days at the “office”.
All of that to say, I really slowed down on my normal cadence of reading. Read more contemporary romances this week than anything else with stand out reads going to: Kelly Siskind, and Denise Williams.
Enjoy!
The 14 Days of Christmas by Louise Bay
Saw this pop up on Meghan Quinn’s twitter feed, and thought it might be a good quick read to kick off more holiday themed reads. Look, it’s very cute, albeit a little predictable. Sebastian, a rich, grinch-like businessman needs to head home to his beloved grandmother, and her small-village obsessed with Christmas to help them save their holiday market.
There he meets Celia, a village resident that loves Christmas and is a part of the market organizing committee. Right from the get go, seems like the Snowsly holiday village is in major need of some support. Their market website is hacked, profits are down. The tree falls down. Stress is high. There’s some loser ex boyfriend sub story lines, but overall its not a story with a ton of depth.
Can we see the ending coming a country mile away? Yes. Is it still pretty sweet? Yes. Will I keep posing questions to myself as I write this? Most likely.
He’s Going Down by Kelly Siskind
Kelly writes some of my favourite romances. She really delves into the world her main characters occupy and makes everything feel so much more real. I really liked the premise of this one. Three friends make wishes to complete by next year’s birthday. Our gal Rachel stuck in perpetual failure to launch has hopped from job to job, spinning her wheels after losing her father unexpectedly.
Spurred on by her wild birthday wish, she not only experiments with a one night stand, but enters in a wine sommelier competition (her only real passion). I won’t spoil this one for you. But one night stand guy, ends up also entering the competition and proceeds to recap their wild, wild night that Ray has absolutely zero recollection of. The way she wrote ALL the wine tasting and food pairings literally had me almost drooling.
Best read with a crisp cool Gewürztraminer on hand.
Primal Basilisk by Terry Bolryder (Free on KU)
Book two in the Big Bad Basilisk series picks up after the events of book 1. Diesel the (biggest and baddest Basilisk) is stationed outside of a small town helping protect its inhabitants from some type of bad dragon. And wouldn’t you know it, a curvy woman with red hair catches his eye and pretty much from there it’s fated matesville population: us.
This was an admittedly a palate cleanser book between He’s Going Down and In a Badger Way and was a super quick read. Not a read with the most depth, or character development but it was decent enough to keep my attention and not skim.
In a Badger Way by Shelly Laurenston (Free on KU)
Book two in the hot and badgered series! And here we have yet another completely delightful, chaotic mess that is the MacKilligan sisters finding love. This time, its hybrid honey badger and tiger Stevie (who happens to be a musical and scientific genius) and giant panda Shen.
Not going to lie, this one moves really really quickly (as do most of Laurenston’s stories) and at times I had trouble keeping up. Did it stop me from enjoying the story? Not at all. Like I mentioned in the shifter recommendation post, these books are absolutely light on the traditional romance and again this one falls a little short for me on the overall romance. But it moves the overall story along and seeing Shen be a steady presence for our little ball of chaotic anxiety energy Stevie was pretty sweet.
The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams
Y’all. Y’ALL. This book is so stinking great. I picked it up mid day Saturday and finished it in one sitting. Britta, our heroine, a current assistant but aspiring writer is trying to get her proverbial foot in the door at Best Life, a lifestyle magazine. After successfully co-pitching a body positive fitness journey featuring two new virtual coaching apps, Britta quickly becomes enamoured with her new coach Wes.
And Wes! Our sensitive, kind, genuine golden retriever who (much like Alex from All the Feels) just wants to be someone’s whole heart. These two have ALL the chemistry. Their email exchanges are SO sweet and funny. My cheeks hurt from smiling, and my heart was being squeezed so hard!
Denise writes so magically, and holds space for Britta’s lived experiences so vividly. Lots of readers will see themselves in her, especially the “I’m fat but I like my body AND choose to exercise” (it’s me, I’m readers). By the time these two get together you’ll be fist pumping and squealing with delight. Including that 10km race scene! Wes and Britta are so great together, and I feel so lucky I got to meet these two and watch them fall ALL the way in love.