Review: A Play for Love

A Play for Love by Trilina Pucci
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rory meet Oliver briefly during a Romeo and Juliet scene for her college theater mid-term.  They had chemistry, but then didn't see each other again.  Fast forward 5 years.  Oliver is playing Cupid for rent money.  Rory is on a horrible "date."  He rescues her and they opt to spend the day together.  Turns out they had crushes on each other in college but both were too intimidated to do anything about it.  The big problem is Rory is leaving NYC in the morning to move back home.

They opt to do the long distance thing over the next couple of months.  And then a surprise at Rory's niece's play.  Nice!

View all my reviews

Review: Second Act Romance

Second Act Romance by Julie Soto
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bex has one of the leads in "Oklahoma."  When food poisoning strikes and takes out a lot of the cast, Colby steps in.  He and Bex were previously leads with each other and had good chemistry.  Until Bex got sick and they had a miscommunication (because of course).

Now years later they are leads together again.  A lot of technical jargon.  Had a hard time getting into this story and I wasn't that crazy about the romance (there really wasn't any IMO).  

View all my reviews

Review: Time Will Tell

Time Will Tell by Hannah Bonam-Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Georgia is a high school history teacher. When she gets a letter from her recently deceased grandma Bonnie detailing a time capsule that she and her girlfriend Martha buried, she involves her students in drafting a letter to Martha's next of kin, her grandson Callum. Thus begins an email correspondence for the next month or so.
I thought this was nicely paced and I could get a good sense of Callum and Georgia through their email banter. They do meet at the end of the story to see what is in the time capsule. This was different (when LGBTQ+ rights were non-existent).

View all my reviews

Review: Accidentally Yours

Accidentally Yours by Christina Lauren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Veronica was just laid off after she spoke out about being overlooked for a promotion (again).  She worked at a "tech-bro" company.  While interviewing for another position, she accidentally crashes someone else's Zoom meeting.  And proceeds to eviscerate their (bad) ideas.  So she is surprised when the CEO comes after her with a job offer.

This was so fun.  I enjoyed the banter back and forth between Veronica and Jude.  They have chemistry (and don't know what each other looks like).  Veronica also has a crush on a neighbor (she doesn't know his name or what he does).  And surprise!  Yes, predictable, but so much fun.  

View all my reviews

Review: Lovelight Farms

Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stella owns her dream Christmas tree farm, creating memories for other people to cherish. Raised by her mother, they moved frequently for her mom to find jobs. She had a hard time making friends because of all the moves. Her father abandoned her mother when she told him she was pregnant. She does have friends now; Beckett and Layla on her farm, and Luka. She met Luka shortly after her mother died and they have been best friends since. She is also in love with Luka. Further complicating things, the farm has had several problems (trees dying in one of the pastures, missing shipments, etc) and this has put a financial strain on the farm. She enters a contest with a social media influencer to (hopefully) win some money. Only issue, she needs a boyfriend, stat.
While I liked Stella and could understand her fear of being left/abandoned, she was also a bit naive and stupid at times. Just TALK to Luka dammit! The incidences around the farm are related (duh) and are solved. Luka was wonderful. They melded easily together and as a couple I could see them together for the rest of their lives. I also enjoyed her friends Beckett and Layla and I see they get their stories in the next two books.

View all my reviews

Review: Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy

Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy by Randi Weingarten
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Good explainer why MAGA (and MAHA) are so against public education. Teaching critical thinking? (That's bad! Indoctrination!) Supporting children and meeting them where they are at? (Indoctrination!) I think she rephrased book bans in a good way: Banning books take choices away from parents (since the right is all about "choices" and "parental rights").
Thinking for yourselves and questioning narratives are all good.

View all my reviews

Review: Attempting Normal

Attempting Normal by Marc Maron
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Not that familiar with his comedy, but I wanted something funny and distracting with all the bullshit going on right now. This was more serious than I thought it would be. There are numerous stories and just about all are some level of unexpected, unconventional, wacky. Not what I was expecting.

View all my reviews