
zolit started reading...
13w

The Risk
Elle Kennedy
THE RISK takes you back to the world of hot hockey players, feisty heroines, bro banter, and steamy scenes... Everyone says Iām a bad girl. Theyāre only partly rightāI donāt let fear rule me, and I certainly donāt care what people think. But I draw the line at sleeping with the enemy. As the daughter of Briarās head hockey coach, Iād be vilified if I hooked up with a player from a rival team. And thatās who Jake Connelly is. Harvardās star forward is arrogant, annoying, and too attractive for his own good. But fate is cruelāI require his help to secure a much-coveted internship, and the sexy jerk isnāt making it easy for me. I need Connelly to be my fake boyfriend. For every fake dateā¦he wants a real one. Which means this bad girl is in big trouble. Nothing good can come from sneaking around with Jake Connelly. My father would kill me, my friends will revolt, and my post-college career is on the line. But while itās getting harder and harder to resist Jakeās oozing sex appeal and cocky grin, I refuse to fall for him. Thatās the one risk Iām not willing to take.

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13w

Normal People
Sally Rooney
At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. Heās popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianneās house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers - one they are determined to conceal. A year later, theyāre both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other. Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.

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13w

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Victoria Schwab
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

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13w

Fire Power
Mir Benitz
Fourth Wing meets Formula One in this enemies-to-lovers sports romantasy about a stubbornly ambitious dragon rider who goes up against her childhood friend-turned-racing rival in the ultimate dragon race. The Silverscale Grand Prix is the national championship of dragon racingāa high-speed, often deadly, elite sport with an unimaginably big cash prize. Asta and her dragon Carmine are unlikely competitors. No sponsors, no high-tech gear, no fans out in the stands. Not to mention that a female rider hasnāt won the Prix for nearly sixty years. The odds are stacked against them, but Asta is determined to prove everyone wrong: the training school that kicked her out for fighting a classmate, her family who wished sheād never left the farm, and, most of all, her infuriatingly arrogant childhood-best-friend-turned-rival Felix, the poster-boy heir to the Seraphin racing dynasty and reigning tournament champion. Raw talent alone wonāt be enough to get Asta and Carmine through these racesāand it soon becomes clear that the risks Asta has taken to get to Silverscale could have devastating consequences. Time to think fast, or die trying.

zolit finished a book
14w

The Chase (Briar U, #1)
Elle Kennedy
Everyone says opposites attract. And they must be right, because thereās no logical reason why Iām so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald. I donāt usually go for tattoo-covered, video-gaming, hockey-playing nerd-jocks who think Iām flighty and superficial. His narrow view of me is the first strike against him. It doesnāt help that heās buddy-buddy with my brother. And that his best friend has a crush on me. And that I just moved in with them. Oh, did I not mention weāre roommates? I suppose it doesnāt matter. Fitzy has made it clear heās not interested in me, even though the sparks between us are liable to burn our house down. Iām not the kind of girl who chases after a man, though, and Iām not about to start. Iāve got my hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy professor, and an uncertain future. So if my sexy brooding roomie wises up and realizes what heās missing? He knows where to find me.

zolit started reading...
14w

The Chase (Briar U, #1)
Elle Kennedy
Everyone says opposites attract. And they must be right, because thereās no logical reason why Iām so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald. I donāt usually go for tattoo-covered, video-gaming, hockey-playing nerd-jocks who think Iām flighty and superficial. His narrow view of me is the first strike against him. It doesnāt help that heās buddy-buddy with my brother. And that his best friend has a crush on me. And that I just moved in with them. Oh, did I not mention weāre roommates? I suppose it doesnāt matter. Fitzy has made it clear heās not interested in me, even though the sparks between us are liable to burn our house down. Iām not the kind of girl who chases after a man, though, and Iām not about to start. Iāve got my hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy professor, and an uncertain future. So if my sexy brooding roomie wises up and realizes what heās missing? He knows where to find me.

zolit TBR'd a book
14w

In Her Own League
Liz Tomforde
As the first female team owner in Major League Baseball, Reese Remington has spent her entire life preparing for this role. With a sharp mind and years of experience working behind the scenes, she's more than qualified. But the public only sees a woman in a man's world ā not the person who's earned their place on the field. Under constant scrutiny and pressure to prove herself, Reese can't afford distractions. Especially one that comes in the form of the team's tempting field manager who questions her every decision. Emmett Montgomery is a former All-Star turned coach who treats his players like family and the field like home. After years of running the team his way, the last thing he wants is a new boss, let alone one who seems ice-cold and laser-focused on business. But forced to spend long hours - and too many away games - side by side, he begins to see the fire beneath Reese's control, the heart behind her ambition, and the unwavering determination to prove herself. When heated banter turns into sizzling chemistry, professional boundaries blur and the spark between them becomes impossible to resist. But Reese is constantly reminded of how many people are waiting for her to fail, and the safest move is to keep Emmett at arm's length - for the sake of the team, the season, and her career. But keeping their distance is one game neither of them can seem to win.

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14w

You, Again
Kate Goldbeck
Can they stop hating each other long enough to fall in love? A commitment-phobe and a hopeless romantic clash over and over againāuntil heartbreak and unexpected chemistry bring them together in this clever enemies-to-friends-to-lovers debut romance. When Ari and Josh first meet, the wrong kind of sparks fly. They hate each other. Instantly. A free-spirited, struggling comedian who likes to keep things casual, Ari sublets, takes gigs, and she never sleeps over after hooking up. Born-and-bred Manhattanite Josh has ambitious plans: Take the culinary world by storm, find The One, and make her breakfast in his spotless kitchen. They have absolutely nothing in common . . . except that they happen to be sleeping with the same woman. Ari and Josh never expect their paths to cross again. But years later, as they're both reeling from ego-bruising breakups, a chance encounter leads to a surprising connection: friendship. Turns out, spending time with your former nemesis is fun when you're too sad to hate each other--and too sad for hate sex. As friends-without-benefits, they find comfort in late-night Netflix binges, swiping through each other's online dating profiles, and bickering across boroughs. It's better than romance. Until one night, the unspoken boundaries of their platonic relationship begin to blur. . . . With sharp observations and sizzling chemistry, You, Again explores the dynamics of co-ed friendship in this sparkling romantic comedy of modern love in all its forms.

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14w

Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt
Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus. After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late. Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

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14w

Accomplice to the Villain
Hannah Nicole Maehrer
REWARD OFFERED: Apprentice to The Villain wanted for treason (light), magical property damage (alleged), and one incident involving a weaponized scone (accurate). Frequently seen with a grumpy frog (crowned, judgmental). Answers to āEvieā or āStop that.ā Evie Sage didnāt mean to become the right-hand woman to the kingdomās most terrifying villain. One minute, she was applying for an entry-level position that promised ālight paperwork and occasional beheadings,ā and the next, she was knee-deep in magical mayhem, murder plots, and an entirely inappropriate crush on her brooding, sharp-jawed, walking disaster of a boss. Now, with a magical prophecy unraveling, assassins showing up in the break room, and a suspicious amount of frogs wearing crowns, Evie has to figure out how to survive her job without setting the kingdom on fireāor her dignity, which is hanging by a very sarcastic thread. Being evil-adjacent was never part of the five-year plan. But then againā¦neither was falling for The Villain.