Book Review: Beginning to Look A Lot Like Us by Sara B. Larson

Book: Beginning to Look A Lot Like Us by Sara B. Larson

Genre: Holiday romance

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this romance! One of those stories where when I was reading it, I was thinking about the characters and wanting to get back to them to find out how it's going down. 

This is the story of Clara, who finds out her boyfriend broke up with her during an interview on national TV. She's a popular author and was telling everyone about her book, when someone dropped this news. It also happened at the same time her grandmother died. Everything feels like it's falling apart.

Later, at Christmastime, she goes to her grandma's house to take care of some things. She plans to fix up the house to sell it. While there, she finds out the the guy she hung out with for many summers when she'd come to visit her grandma, is back and living next door.

That's when it hits her that maybe she's been harboring feelings for him all these years. 

But she thinks he wants nothing to do with her.

Of course, we find out otherwise pretty quickly!

As they both work to fix up the house, and attend all the fun small town Christmas events, it starts to come out what they've both been feeling. We also get some glimpses into the past when she would come visit for the summer and how they become such good friends, and also grew apart. 

It's an awesome holiday, small town, second chance romance. And closed door for those of you who like that aspect, as I do. 

Thank you to the author for letting me be an ARC reader! This book will be available this coming week on November 4th! 

Book Review: Trust Fall by Lynn Painter

Book: Trust Fall by Lynn Painter

Genre: YA romance

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was lucky enough to get approved for an ARC from Netgalley for this one I read it this past week while on the Oregon Coast. It's very similar in feel to all other Lynn Painter books which means a fun, banter-y romance that has me constantly turning the pages.

This one is about our girl who ends up getting an inheritance from someone her family befriended and they end up moving from their small town in Nebraska to a huge mansion in the middle of New York City. 

The person who bequeathed this to them happens to be the uncle of our boy. And he is not at ALL happy with the situation. And then it turns out these two are in the same grade in the same school and he ends up tutoring her in math. 

He thinks of it as a sort of joke or way to see what's going on with her and her family, but then he falls fast and hard for her. He is a pretty smug sort of dude, so it's fun to see this happen to him. And to get to know the better, and softer.. side of him. I loved that.

So much banter! Did I say that already!? I love all the banter in Lynn Painter books. Definitely my favorite part. This book also had the added joy of being set in New York in the fall, so that was cool. 

Anyway I really enjoyed it a lot as expected. One disclaimer I'd like to throw out there, I see Lynn Painter books being recommended all the time for young teens as a good clean romances. Which they are for the most part, but they (this one especially) are full of F-bombs, so if that's not something you want for your younger teens looking for romances to read, be warned.

This one comes out tomorrow, September 29!

 

Book Review: Silk and Sensibility by Mengxi Seeley

Book: Silk and Sensibility by Mengxi Seeley

Genre: YA romance, classic retelling

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I've been anxious to read this one ever since I first heard about it. A retelling, or reimagining of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility set in the Ming dynasty in China. Intriguing premise, yes?

The story does follow the original fairly closely, but I loved seeing how the author weaves Chinese culture into it. So fun and very effective.

We have our family, who has recently lost their father. There are three sisters. The story is told form the POV of the two older sisters. One of them is a painter and is hoping to help the family out financially through selling her art. The younger one is amazing on the zither and ends up teaching some students also. 

The older one is, of course, very prim and proper and concerned with following all the social rules. It's crazy, then, that she randomly falls in love with this guy who she comes across one day and who ends up being connected to her family. She knows this is against the norm, but it happens anyway. They sort of make promises to each other, but then we find out later, that he seems to already be promised to someone else.

She is obviously upset by this, but instead of finding out what's really going on, she decides to give up any of her happiness to insure that her family's reputation stays intact.

Meanwhile, the second sister is falling for a guy who everyone but her seems to know is a scoundrel. But she thinks the other guy, who is much more decent, giving her attention is not worth her time. Until, of course, she sees the light!

Anyway, it's so very much fun, especially if you are a Sense and Sensibility fan, or a Jane Austen fan in general, and if you are curious how this would look like set in a Chinese culture, I would highly recommend! Look for it to be released on September 15th!

Book Review: A Novel Chance by E.S Rosalynn

 

Book: A Novel Chance by E.S. Rosalynn

Genre: Adult Romance

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story has every thing I love about a small town romance. Our girl is new in town, having just opened up her quaint and cute bookshop. Our guy is the steady handyman and 5th grade teacher who is there for everyone but himself. 

And of course the town is quaint and cute too, filled with whimsically named stores and all sorts of quirky characters. 

It was sweet and fun for the most part. For some reason I was expecting a "closed door" or "fade to black" spice level, but um... it was not. And that seems to always take me out of the story itself. I don't know how else to explain it, but yeah, I've come to terms with the fact that I enjoy the lower spice levels in my romance. All the swoon though, give THAT to me!

This did have some level of swoon, thankfully. Which is why I quite enjoyed it. The stuff keeping the characters apart did make me a little crazy though. I got mad at both of them for being stupid. But I guess that's how it goes with these stories sometimes!

In the end, I totally enjoyed it and am curious about the other books in the series. I'm sure we'll be getting the stories of the other brothers... maybe? Or at least other characters in the town. 

Bottom line: if you love bookish, slow burn, small town romances with a pretty high spice level, this one is for you!

I got the ARC from the author and it will be released on June 2!

Book Review: We Are Never Getting Together by Janette Rallison

Book: We Are Never Getting Together by Janette Rallison

Genre: YA Romance

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story is filled with tropes and banter and angst and antics, so you know I totally enjoyed it! We have our girl (who has lots of money) and our boy (who does not have money) who basically hate each other for some reason (enemies to lovers because...spoiler...lol!) so the book starts out with them "fighting" by doing crazy pranks on each other.  And then, as the story goes we of course learn that it was all due to some silly misunderstandings. 

But then when their single parents appear to be hitting it off, they decide to team up to make sure that does not happen! (I'm seeing it being called a reverse Parent Trap story... assuming everyone knows what The Parent Trap movie is!) So our girl (a drama queen) and our boy (a football quarterback star) decided to pretend THEY are together in order to discourage their parents from continuing a relationship... so yes, at the core of all the tropes, we have the fake relationship going on. Which of course means that eventually they will learn the truth about each other and change their minds. I love it when that happens.

It's delightful as expected. I love this author and all the witty fun situations that she creates. I always end up becoming totally invested and immersed because this type light-hearted fun story is my favorite. If it's your favorite style of story too, add this one to your list to read! 

This book will be released on April 7 and thank you to Netgalley for the advanced review copy. 

Book Review: Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean

Book: Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Release Date: February 3, 2026

This is a fun cute story about our girl Emma, who is struggling with the divorce of her parents and the decision of where to go to school. She is a fantastic violin player and wants to go to Berklee, but she also is feeling the need to stay close to home to help take care of her mom and grandpa. 

She helps her mom with their cleaning service and one day she gets a letter from a guy claiming to be her boyfriend...but he's writing from the future. So she is obsessed with figuring out which guy in her life could be the writer. 

Is it her best friend for forever, the boy next door, who she is suddenly seeing in a differently light? Or could it be the guy from high school who is an amazing cello player and is assigned to be her mentor at the classes she is going to? Or... maybe it's the guy who threw up on her shoes at a party? Or actually, it could it be the son of the very very rich family she cleans for!

So many choices!

In the course of all this, and the connections she has with these boys, she learns to be true to herself and do what she needs to do to move on in life and be successful.

I really enjoyed it! This is the style of writing and kind of book vibe that you all know I love! I haven't read any other books by this author, but have been wanting to and now I will for sure put those on my list. The reason I docked it a half a star and didn't give it my normal 4 stars for this type of book is because the ending was a bit of a let down for me. And left me feeling confused. I probably just didn't "get it" and if I could talk to someone about it, maybe I'd be all... OH YEAH! 

Anyway, I recommend this one to all lovers of YA contemporary romance, to people who love a little mix of Asian (Japanese in this case) culture mixed into their stories, and to fans of the author of course. It will be out early next month! (Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this advanced copy!) 

Book Review: Room to Breathe by Kasie West

 

Book: Room to Breathe by Kasie West

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date: January 6, 2026

So, it appears I'm back to requesting books from NetGalley, and this is the first book that became available to me and I dropped everything else and read it over a couple of days, including the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I just love these books!

In this story, we have our two love interests who have been best friends for years. But something has happened to tear them apart. One day, they get locked in the teacher's lounge bathroom and have to face whatever happened and figure it all out. 

The story goes between THEN (a few months in the past where we get a glimpse of their friendship and eventually the thing that happened) and NOW (the present moment in the bathroom as they hopefully start talking and work things out.)  

I'm still not sure I can pinpoint what it is exactly that I love so much about YA contemporary romance stories. First love? For sure. The sweetness and simplicity of the stories? Probably. The swooniness that always seems to be present. Absolutely. I truly love getting immersed in all of this despite being as old as I am. Or maybe it's even BECAUSE of how old I am. I don't know. 

I really do enjoy it and Kasie West writes these types of stories right there among the best of them. I wish she would get more attention like Lynn Painter or Jenny Han.. or something. Anyway, I will keep reading them as long as she keeps writing them. If you haven't checked her stuff out yet, do it now. And add this one to the list!

Kdrama Review: Crash Course in Romance

Drama: Crash Course in Romance (on Netflix)

Genre: Romcom

Starring: Jung Kyoungho, Jeon Doyeon

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Yeah, I'm so behind in talking about what I've been watching but I'll go ahead and attempt to catch up! 

This one is about a dude who is a very famous math tutor. He helps kids in the after hours (Korean kids go to academy's after school to help them get even better grades) with math and the daughter of our female main lead is DYING to get in. And she does get in, but then she is sabotaged by the mean moms in the neighborhood and is promptly kicked out. 

So... the dude starts coming around to their house to tutor her, because he feels bad about what happened. AND because their restaurant is the only place he can actually eat. Because he is extremely depressed and lonely, and is going to not make it if he doesn't figure out how to eat. So in he tutors, in exchange for food.

And then falls in love with the mom. Which is INSANE because she is SO NOT his type!

There's a lot of funny moments and sweet moments and sad moments. There's a cute side story with the daughter and her boyfriend, and the backstory of what our dude has had to deal with. I really enjoyed it! 

Here's a quick trailer:

Kdrama Review: A Love So Beautiful

Drama: A Love So Beautiful (on Netflix)

Genre: romcom

Starring:  Kim Yohan, So Jooyeon, Yeo Hoehyun, Jo Hyejoo, Jeong Jinhwan

Rating:  ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

I didn't really know what to expect when I started this drama, but this, I'm pretty sure, has ended up being the cutest, sweetest, most fluffiest drama I've ever watched. Yep, I KNOW!

It follows the stories of five friends, giving a lot of time to when they were in high school (maybe half of the drama), but then moving through college, and then their careers. 

Our main girl has crushed on our main boy for years.. .and for a long time he resists her. But then when a new kid comes a long and shows interest, he realizes he has probably liked her all this time after all. And now he has to fight for her, and he really doesn't have that sort of personality! 

So it's the fun love story between a girl who is sweet and bubbly and very open and our boy who is quiet, stand-offish and somewhat ornery at times! It's great to see him shake off that tendency in order to fight for this girl. LOL!

But yeah, it is truly sappy sweet, and very very cheesy, but in the best way. I loved it. It makes my heart warm. 

I was drawn to this one because it stars an idol dude, of course. Yohan was first place in the idol competition show ProduceX, and then went on to be in the group WEi. He's adorable and an all rounder. It was fun to see his acting in this cute thing, and then I loved the bloopers at the end of the show which shows us that is personality is truly completely opposite of the character he plays. Like he is FULL OF SMILES! Just... SO CUTE!

Anyway, here's the trailer:

And here's the very addictive song that is highlighted constantly throughout the show:

And in one episode the boys' characters do a dance to this song, and it was the best moment of all! Like how can you not smile at this???

Kdrama Review: Love in Contract

Drama: Love in Contract

Genre: romcom

Starring: Park Min Young, Kim Jae Young, Go Kyung Pyo

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤

Another drama that took me months to watch. Not sure if this is a function of the drama, or my mood and life. But anyway, I finally finished it!

This one is about a girl who marries for her job. She has been married like 13 or times or something. She does it for when a guy needs a wife for some event or something. Or to show off to his family, or, as is the case with the guy in the drama... just someone to eat dinner with. When the job is over, she gets divorced and moves on. 

Well, with our guy she has been eating dinner with him for like five years, and finally, as the drama opens, she decides she is sick of this job and she is going to retire and move on to something else. So she has to tell him that they are over. But then she realizes, she is sad to tell him and that she wants to keep eating dinner with him, as they have been all these years. 

So, what to do?

In the meantime, we learn her back story and what brought to do such a job. And a new dude moves into the apartment where her "husband" lives and he ends up truly liking her and talks her into not retiring and being HIS wife too. 

And then things get really messy. 

It was cute and fun in parts, but very long and boring in other parts. The last few episodes were really really draggy... ugh. Usually the last episodes of a drama are so fast paced and crazy that you can't stop and you end up watching them all at once. But these last ones took me a month to get to. Sadness. 

The dude who played the second male lead was someone I hadn't seen in anything before and I really enjoyed his acting. Hopefully I will find him in something else again some day. 

New dude: Kim Jaeyoung

Anyway, so yeah. I mostly enjoyed it and it was a fun premise, but really lagged around way too much.

Here's a trailer:

And a song:

Books I Read in January 2023

Welcome to my new format for "reviewing" books! I'm just going to do the monthly wrap up and report on my books read then, all in one post with mini reviews. Okay? Okay!

Here's what I read in January:

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle: I really loved this one about a girl with massive ADHD and a boy on the autistic spectrum. They get together in a pretty funny and then connect through their mutual love for a book called The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise. And they use those quotes in their texts to each other and it's adorable. They both have lots of issues to deal with and it seems like there's no way they can figure out how to be together.  It's a really cute and fun story with not your typical characters. 

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman: This one we read for book club in January. This author is quickly becoming a book club favorite and ends up on our lists quite often these days! It's a fun story narrated by a nearly 8 year old girl as she watches all the crazy things going on in her apartment building. She is also dealing with the death of her grandma... her crazy grandma who has sent in on a sort of treasure hunt after she's gone. And our girl ends up realizing that all the people in the apartment building have a connection. It's awesome just as all his books are, with amazing character development. He can capture people like no else!

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: This is the book I read from my own stacks this month. A book that has been waiting for me since 2016... because I remember buying it at Powell's bookstore when we were on a trip that year! Anyway, I loved it and it gets to be my first 5 star read of the year! What a story that totally sucks you and keeps you on the edge the whole time! Our girl ends up posing as a sly and spying on the household of the commander of the school that trains soldiers to fight and suppress her people. She needs to get information so she can save her brother from horrendous jail and torture. Our guy is one of these highly trained soldiers and he has just graduated from this school. And he wants to escape. But if he's caught they will kill him. And of course their two desires somehow come together in all the crazy unexpected ways! AHH! It's all so intense!  I immediately got book 2 from the library and I hope to fit it in during February. 

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson: This was a sort of Booktube read along, though I haven't really succeeded in connecting with anyone reading it yet! LOL! It's a great historical fantasy (is that what you call it... magic in the 1800's but not with steampunk sort of devices). Our girl has been raised in a great library with intentions of running that library someday, but an incident happens that sends her off to be questioned by the sorcerers and magic is so very much frowned upon by the librarians. Bad bad stuff. But when she meets a certain sorcerer, she begins to wonder if everything she has been taught is right. Because he... and the demon that gives him his magic... are pretty cool after all. And then after they become friends they have to save the world! Fun stuff, and so beautifully written. 

February Plans:

• Read The Last Anniversary for bookclub
• Read the 2nd Ember in the Ashes book!
• Read Siddhartha, or that Leo Tolstoy short story thing for a challenge
• Read a king/queen book for the British Forced Phase
• That's all I'm thinking of at this point!

December 2022 Books: Mini Review Catch Up

These are the books I read in December! Quite a few more than I normally read because I was really trying to make a push and meet that dang Goodreads goal!

And with this post I might be mostly caught up!

Atomic Habits by James Clear: I finally got to this one that pretty much the whole world has been talking about. And yes, I can see what all the fuss is about. It does lay out a plan for getting into good habits in a way that is very clear (ha clear....get it?) and relatable and that makes sense. I would love to implement something into my life, but I will probably just on about things and forget it all! I gave this one 4 stars on Goodreads.

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren: This was our for fun Christmas book club read and it was pretty perfect for that directive. Our girl goes on vacation with her family and family friends every year, but this year is different in that it might be the last time they are able to do this. And then something happens, everything starts over, Ground Hog Day style. And she gets a couple of tries to get things right and to help fix the issues that are making everyone so sad. It was heartwarming, romantic and fun. I totally enjoyed it. Three stars on Goodreads.

Secrets of the Looking Glass by J. Scott Savage: This an ARC I got from the publisher and it needed to be read in September when it came out. Gah, ooops! It took me awhile thank you to all of lives distractions and my terrible time getting anything read these days! It's the second in the Lost Wonderland Diaries series, which is a delightful fun sort of retelling (not really, but in that world) of Alice in Wonderland. It's so very clever and funny and full of fun riddles and the like. I feel like kids will enjoy it even more than I did! I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.

Places We've Never Been by Kasie West: I got this one for Christmas and read it in a couple of sittings, because as you know, I love her stories! Another fun YA romance that takes place on a road trip through very familiar places to me. I love that. Our characters are friends, but time has elapsed and things are now on shaking ground. It's fun to see them rekindle things. "Friends, to enemies, to lovers!" I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool: Another book I'm reading from my shelves that has been waiting forever. This one takes place shortly after WWII about a 13 year old who has been sent to a boarding school and he befriends a strange and interesting kid named Early, who teaches him all sorts of things about life. Together they go on a quest and navigate growing up. It's very heart warming and sweet. It won the Printz honor award. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads. 

And that brings us to the end of 2022 reading! I think I might just do a monthly wrap up mini review post this year. And see how that goes. And here's hoping I read a TON more this year than last! 

November 2022 Books: Mini Review Catch Up!

 

Oh my word, but I am so behind in reviews. They are all one the YouTube channel though! One minute review shorts!!  And here I'll do the blogging version of that, mini reviews!

So these are the books rounded out my November reading:

The Maid by Nita Prose: It's about a girl who loves being a maid in a fancy hotel. One day she finds a dead dude, and the mystery that wraps up surrounding this guy and the people involved is really quite interesting. I find it fun and engaging, but not as crazy amazing as everyone seemed to be making it out to be. The ending was... surprising. And strange. And I still don't really know what to think about it all. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry: I ended up loving this one! What a great sweet romance. Our main characters have been friends for years, going on a fun crazy trip together every summer. But denying all these years how they feel about each other. We get flashbacks to the previous trips, but spend a lot of time on the current trip where they finally figure things out! I gave this one 4 stars on Goodreads. I  look forward to reading more by her! I hear Book Lovers is a must!

The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson: This is a book I've had on my shelf forever, the second in a YA SF series. In the first book we learn what happened to Jenna Fox... in this book, we learn what happened to her friends, and it's CRAZY stuff! I remember loving the first book, this one was fun, but not as compelling as that first one. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.

Not Going There by Terri Osburn: Another book by an author friend! This one is book 3 in the "Not" series where we are following the love stories of a group of fun friends. I totally enjoyed this one about our girl who gets fired and ends up running her own bookkeeping business and then her first client is a dude that she is totally turning her nose up at... and then, she finds out he's actually pretty cool. In fact, I myself quite fell in love with him! I gave this one 4 stars on Goodreads for some fun romantic comedy escape.

Stay tuned for a catch up post on books read in December! Here's hoping I can keep up better this new year! Thought I might keep this format... and just do mini reviews from now on... hmm....

Kdrama Review: From a Distance Spring is Green

 Drama: From a Distance Spring is Green

Genre: melodrama

Starring: Park Jihoon, Kang Minah, Bae Inhyuk

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

I ended up in a pretty bad drama slump a few months ago and finally got hooked on this one to pull me out. Even though this is not a very happy drama in the end!

This is about our college dude. On the outside he looks happy and fluffy and beautiful and perfect and rich. On the inside he is hurting in the worst way because of the neglect he faces from his so called family. So he suffers a lot from putting on that front for people, and then dealing with things alone. 

Then he and our girl get together. She is sweet and nice and perfect for him. And she starts to crack the wall he's put up.

He also decides he needs to be friends with this guy who is the complete opposite of him... sour, sad and grouchy... all the time. And totally struggling financial. He looks at our bright "happy" dude and thinks he has NOTHING to deal with. 

And when they let each other into their lives, they both find out that there are so many issues people are dealing with that they never let on about. It's eye opening for both of them, and their friendship ends up being so beautiful and tear inducing!

I loved this one because of the heart it has. SO MUCH HEART! And dang but Park Jihoon totally blew it away with his acting. So bright and happy to a totally tortured soul. Crazy good stuff. I hear he's now in other one that I need to watch. Hopefully it won't take me forever to get to it!

 Here's a little trailer:

And the main song:

Book Review: Shining Star by Trish Milburn

Book: Shining Star by Trish Milburn

Genre: Kpop romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

This book is book 8 in the Idol in Love series, and the second book following the stories of the boy group Sky High. They continue to break all the rules by falling in love. And THIS time it's even crazier because it's with one of their stylists! (Seriously though, we always wonder how the stylists in real life keep from doing this. Especially if they are at all near the same age as the idols. Mostly we assume they are quite a bit older, so maybe that helps? LOL!)

Anyway, our girl is basically being stalked by a dude who has bothered her for years, wanting to date her. He shows up again in her life and our idol is having none of this. And he is struggling to know if it's just because he wants to make sure she is okay. Or does he really like her? Hmmm.....

This books are very short and very fast to read and are perfect to fit in when I want something fun and swoony. I love them.

So now I'm all caught up and ready to read the next one whenever Trish has it done!

Kdrama Review: Dear.M

Drama: Dear.M (on Viki)

Genre: rom com

Starring: Park Hyesu, Jeong Jaehyun, Roh Jeongeui and Bae Hyunsung, Lee Jinhyuk

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤

Everyone was excited about this one because Jaehyun, kpop star in NCT 127, is in it. It got delayed for some reason or another (a scandal with the original co-star or something?) but it finally aired this past summer so I jumped on in and watched it while it was airing! 

It's a cute college drama about a group of friends and roommates who are intrigued by a mysterious letter that's posted on the campus forum talking about how this person is in love with someone. They are all trying to figure out who it is and end up assuming it's one of them. 

We have all the fun different romances in this one. Our main couple have been best friends forever, but the dude is suddenly realizing he likes the girl more than just a friend. Meanwhile, she is intrigued by some hot new guy in school. Another couple has been together forever (they are the campus couple) but they start having struggles when another girl comes in on the scene and obnoxiously causes problems trying to creating a rift between them so she can steal the dude. Not cool. 

And then we have the quirky comic relief roommates... our lovely dude (one of my favorite kpop guys and in fact the one dude I've met in real life and had taken a picture with!) who has OCD about cleanliness and a girl who has diabetes to deal with, but a fun and crazy personality that you'd THINK would clash with the OCD dude. LOL!

Anyway. It's all of their stories with the bottom line mystery of whoever wrote the letter. It was your basic fun romcom with all the expected angst. I totally enjoyed it. I know some other kdrama fans found it annoying. But I found it all worth it to watch both these kpop boys doing their acting! 

There's one moment when someone is trying to get Jaehyun's character to sing a song and he is all "I don't do ballads." I died, because this dude and ballads in real life are perfection. Seriously.  

But yeah. This one is simple basic fun!

A trailer highlighting our lead couple:

 

 A trailer highlighting my boy the OCD dude:

   

 And a song from the drama with Jaehyun and his co-star actually doing the singing. This is him "not singing ballads" lol!

 

Kdrama Review: Sh**ting Stars

Drama: Sh**ting Stars (on Viki)

Genre: romcom

Starring: Lee Sung Kyung, Kim Young Dae

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

This is another one of those dramas that I at first dismissed just from the title and that it sounded silly. But of course, we all know, that is not usually how it really is!

What a cute fun romcom this one is! 

The story follows the antics of a company that hires celebrities, mostly for dramas. Our girl is the PR person and solves all the crazy messes that the celebrities get themselves into. Our guy is their top star. He's HUGE in the kdrama world. And she thinks he is just awful. Except when he's not. He is intrigued by her and admits pretty fast into the drama that he wants to be with her. They have a back story (not a tragic one as is the case a lot, they just knew each other at college) and so there is a  lot of banter... SO MUCH AWESOME banter!

Anyway. The situations are all funny and our couple is very fun and crazy and cute and lots of heart pitter pattering. It's great. And all the side characters have great stories too. 

And in case you are wondering the ** in the title can stand for either two O's or an I and a T. LOL! 

As for the leads, I was familiar with the girl (she's in Weightlifting Fairy) but the guy was new to me. And of course, he was amazing. And then one of the side characters suddenly turned out to be another favorite kpop dude, Seunghyub from N.Flying. That was a fun surprise!

Here's trailer to give a feel of what it's like:

And a song of course!

And now, I just kind of want to watch it all over again!

Book Review: Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras

Book: Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras

Genre: romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★

When I went to a writing conference back in May, I found at that one of the visiting authors there was a friend of my kpop author friend. So on a whim, I bought her book and talked to a her a bit at the signing, dropping my friend's name and making all the connections. Very fun!

Anyway, this is a pure romance book and I haven't read something like this in a long time! It was fun and a perfect summer read! Location and subject both!

This takes place in Key West, and is about a girl who goes on vacation there and is hoping her boyfriend will join her so she can present him to her family. But he doesn't show, so she asks this random dude at the airport to stand in for the week as her boyfriend. Because...reasons. 

So yes, it is a the fake boyfriend trope... and also forced habitation trope (because he ends up staying with them in the airbnb in order to keep up the story!) Two awesome tropes!

In the process of truly falling for each other, they find out they both have back story issues that need resolving and so they help each other figure that stuff out too. 

It was totally fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it! And now I need to go to Key West!

Book Review: Hearts of Briarwall by Krista Jensen

Book: Hearts of Briarwall by Krista Jensen

Genre: Edwardian romance (A Proper Romance from ShadowMountain.com)

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

It's been awhile but here I am again to promote another Proper Romance book! Thank you to Shadow Mountain for this opportunity!

First how about a summary (provided by the publisher):

Lydia Wooding is fascinated by the latest inventions the new century brings, including motorcars. She longs for the independence they represent and believes that women should have a say in the future of the industry—just as they should have a say in suffrage, adventure, and, of course, love.

Spencer Hayes is a man of practicality and innovation, but he lacks the financial backing to make his dream a reality. When he contacts his childhood friend, Andrew Wooding, about a promising business venture, he is invited to Briarwall Manor to discuss the terms. Once there, he is surprised to find that Andrew's once shy, younger sister, Lydia, has grown into a young woman of beauty, wit, and a bit of fire. Even better, the two share a passion for motorcars.

Andrew, however, is wary of cars, having lost his parents in a tragic auto accident when he and Lydia were young. And he's not sure a relationship between his sister and Spencer is the best idea—not when Sir Lawrence is available and could match both Lydia's social status and her fortune.

Torn between risking their hearts and being loyal to their dreams in an era of whirlwind change, Spencer and Lydia anchor themselves with the determination they both share: to live life to its fullest.

********

I went into this truly not knowing anything. I choose to read this out of a line up books and it just sounded so fun! I don't think I've read anything set in the Edwardian era, not that I can remember at the moment anyway. And it's a pretty cool era! Lots of changes happening in the world! It's a fun time. (I had to look it up, we are talking early 1900's here.

There's four friends featured in this book, and this particular story is about one of them, Lydia, and her brother, and her brother's friend who comes to visit. (After finishing this I wondered if the other friends will have their story? I don't know.. I'm just guessing, but it sure seems like that would be a cool idea!) And this Lydia is fantastic awesome female character! So full of feistiness! And she truly doesn't care what people think. Wearing trousers. Wanting to learn how to drive. Fighting for the vote. Wanting to invest her money. Etc. I love it. She is so funny and witty too. 

And our cute boy Spencer kinda loves it too. He's not so sure he should, but he does. He has been hurt before, so he is trying SOOO hard to remain nonchalant. But that doesn't last long at all.

I really loved the banter and the romance in this one. All around so fun. It totally had me engaged and invested. I really do hope there's more with this world and these characters! 

So yeah, if you enjoy Victorian era stories, but want something a little different, a little more Downton Abby (as I saw it compared to somewhere) then you'll probably truly enjoy this one! This comes out next week on August 2!

*******

More about the author: 

Award-winning author KRISTA JENSEN works and plays in the Pacific Northwest with her spunky little dog and anyone else who wants to tag along. When she’s not exploring the outdoors, she can likely be found with her laptop, a pretty spiral notebook, and a Pilot Precise V7, writing about love, triumph, and really great kisses.

Either that or she’s switching laundry wondering who keeps wearing all these clothes. (It’s her.)

For book info and other good things, follow Krista on Instagram @kristajensenbooks.

Kdrama Review: Light on Me

Drama: Light on Me

Genre: BL

Starring: Kang Yooseok, Lee Saeon, Choi Chanyi

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

I figured since it was Pride Month I'd watch another BL drama and see what I thought. And if the drama I enjoyed from awhile back was just a fluke thing or if I might truly like them. You know? Anyway, I asked for recommendations from trusted friends who know my tastes which for this genre is "sweet and soft."  Many people suggested this one, Light on Me, and so I decided to give it a try.

And yes, sweet and soft this is! Cute and adorable all the way around. 

It's about a dude who is a bit of an outcast, totally keeps to himself. He's a little bit weird and people just don't get him. Mostly his "problem" is he is too blunt and honest. Anyway, he decides to try to actually put himself out there make some friends. So a teacher suggests he join the student council.

It's an all boys high school and so there's three other guys already on the council. The president is very VERY friendly and happy go lucky and cute and popular with everyone. The vice president is shy and quiet and he and our dude get off to a bad start because of an awkward moment that happened out in the hall. And then there's the third guy who is just the funny comic relief! Gah I loved him!

And so turns out, our guy kinda falls for the president. And then things get awkward when the president doesn't really want to be outed. Because he does kind of like our guy, but he just wants to be close friends. Lol... it's a formula trope, yes? 

But the dude who is quiet and stand offish, he starts to get jealous when he realizes HE likes our dude. And it's fun to see him finally open up and come out of his angriness and admit to his feelings. And start smiling. I love that. 

It's still strange and unfamiliar territory for me, but I have to admit that these cute BL's are quite enjoyable. There are a bunch looming on the horizon, since I have a several more favorite kpop idols that are going to be staring in them. And I will want to support and cheer them on. (LOL, as if they knew I was doing that. Geez, but sometimes it feels like that!) So... we'll see how it goes!

Here's a trailer:

And this awesome song, sung by one of my very favorite kpop groups, A.C.E: