Tessa Bailey strikes again! I’m neck deep in these sports romances and I think Burgess has been my favorite of the MMCs to date. These two were a delightful grumpy/sunshine. And while I usually hate a 3rd act breakup this one felt worthwhile.

People comparing this to The Hunger Games are doing it a disservice, frankly. And I say that as a fan of the Hunger Games. They really aren’t that similar beyond the death match part. This is such a complex book, taking both the carceral system and the entertainment industry to task. Well worth the read.

Grumpy/sunshine with a side of snowed in and huddling together for warmth? Mmhmm yes, don’t mind if I do. Some of the smut verged toward too sloppy for my liking but overall it was a cute story.

I do love a good fake dating story. Add “brother’s best friend” with a side of touchy history and I’m sold.

My one quibble: if you become a meme the way this book describes? That shit lives forever. 😂

Sig is… a lot. Somehow both a doormat and a doberman all in one man??

I did not think I would like Fox and then goddamnit, I like him a LOT. Hannah’s honestly the most stalwart and loyal FMC I’ve read in a romance in memory, Fox does not deserve her tbh but I’m glad they have each other.

The overall concept of this book is a fun one — John Green hyperfixates, then rates those things he has hyperfixated upon. But hopping from topic to topic with such a breadth of weight (some things are deep and hard hitting. Others are… hot dog eating contests.) is a little whiplashy, and ultimately the book does require you to care as much about some of these topics as John does to fully land. But I did appreciate the thread of personal expression that moves through all of the book. Overall a good read.

I preordered this as soon as I saw it hit the wider market. Who wouldn't, with a premise of "Anne Boleyn sews her own head back on and goes on a revenge quest"? And I'm glad I got it! I had a great time with the overall story, though there were a few points where the writing style got a little rambling for me. I think the pacing could have used a little adjustment as well; the first half of the book moves a lot slower than the back half, and as much as I liked Alice there was a lot of time spent with her that derailed the main plot for a while. But overall I enjoyed this a lot!

I would die for Antaris. What a sweet little angel.

I really liked the way the romance in this was slow and solid, not the source of the drama but a slowly-developing side plot of its own. I've read enough stories where the drama comes from the relationship and so it's really refreshing to read one where the relationship is the solid part and the drama comes from elsewhere.

I also really liked the mystery/thriller plot of this. The world in which all of this took place and the way the bigotry between non-Seers and Seers kept so much of the problem hidden in shadows and secrets for so long was really well done.

The prose is also top-tier. Alexis Marie knows her shit.

This is a deep dive into what happened at Chernobyl, not just about the catastrophic mishandling of the case from a political standpoint (the USSR made some CHOICES, y'all) but also about the people that were affected by the disaster, from the citizens of Pripyat to the workers who gave their lives to close up the site. Well worth the time if you're interested in the history of the USSR or just Chernobyl itself.

Woman goes on a cruise for work and ends up in a gaslighting nightmare. Just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you reading.

Aside from the mental tangent I took when I found out one of these people was an orca shifter (what!? what happens when she loses control of her emotions in a board meeting? what if she's having a panic attack in a closet? WHAT THEN?) this was a fun little ride. The "being hunted for sport" setup was an interesting way to put these two completely unrelated characters together. I could've done without the FMC being so wildly insecure about what had to amount to just a little bit of softness in her belly, but it wasn't mentioned so frequently as to ruin anything.

A fascinating look into the history of witch hunts in Scotland, where they were far more deadly and devastating than they were in the US, despite the history of witch hunts being focused here.

A great look into patriarchy, structures of oppression, religious persecution, and fear. Also comes with a bonus "we're not as far past this as you want to believe" warning about the global political pendulum swinging to the extreme right. Well worth the time.

Also, get the audiobook if you can -- the authors read it themselves, and as delightful Scottish women, are just a joy to listen to.

A solid ending to a fun quadrilogy! It got more and more epic in scope as things went along and this ending was a great wrap-up. Everyone's a stubborn ass, but in that way where you see why. Also Casey's a goddamn delight. But I think my favorite thing about this entire series is actually Jaxson's growth. I started this series thinking "man, what an asshole" (derogatory) and now it's more like "man, what an asshole" (affectionate).

What a rollercoaster!! But Jaxson and Savannah have me GRIPPED. I’m both enthralled and in agony at this slowburn, these two stubborn assholes and their apocalypse