I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
SYNOPSIS
With nods to Bridget Jones and Pride and Prejudice, a charming #ownvoices queer rom-com debut about a free-spirited social media astrologer who agrees to fake a relationship with an uptight actuary until New Year’s Eve—with results not even the stars could predict!
After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love—and the inevitable heartbreak—is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.
Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account, Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy… a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother—and Elle’s new business partner—expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because… awkward.
When Darcy begs Elle to play along, she agrees to pretend they’re dating to save face. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family over the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a fake relationship.
But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?
REVIEW
Darcy hates it when her brother tries to set her up on blind dates, but decides to give it one last shot when he sets her up with Elle – someone he’s currently working with. Darcy and Elle have a horrible first date. It’s awkward, full of silences and there may have been a glass of spilled wine. Elle doesn’t ever plan on seeing Darcy again.
When Darcy’s brother, Brendon asks how her date went, Darcy tells a teensy tiny white lie and says it was great and that they hit it off. News comes back to Elle and she isn’t exactly thrilled. But in the end, Darcy and Elle decide that being each others fake dates might work out perfectly. They can be each others dates at family gatherings and their respective family’s would leave them alone.
I love a fake-dating romance and Written in the Stars was absolutely delightful. The chemistry between Elle and Darcy was so great. I loved all of their conversations. I love when a rom-com has cute text scenes and I LOVED all of the texting between the various characters in Written in the Stars. I had a grin on my face reading so many parts of this book.
Not only was the relationship between Elle and Darcy wonderful, but I also enjoyed the secondary characters including Margot and Brendon. The friendship between Elle and Margot was so special and relatable. It reminded me of me and my best friend and I loved that I was able to connect with their friendship.
This was my first F/F romance and I’m hoping to read more great romances like this one in the future. If you’re looking for a funny, sweet, swoony romance – grab Written in the Stars!
I realize that I didn’t even update the blog for the books I read in September (whoops!). Probably because I hardly read in September. It was a really hard reading month for me and I know that a lot of us are feeling the same way!
October was really great though and I tried to read a lot of ARC’s for #ARCtober – a bookstagram challenge. I still haven’t gotten to two of my ARC’s, but they’re holiday romances and I figure I’ll get to them in November!
I ended up listening to quite a bit of audiobooks this month and I think that’s really helped me get me out of my slump. I listened to the first four books in the Billionaire’s of Manhattan series by Annika Martin and I would highly recommend the audiobooks!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Little Lies by H Hunting
The Billionaire’s Wake-up-call Girl by Annika Martin
Shortcake by Lucy Watson
Breaking the Billionaire’s Rules by Annika Martin
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Home for the Holidays by Sara Richardson
The Rogue of Fifth Avenue by Joanna Shupe
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
I Promise You by Ilsa Madden-Mills
Simmer Down by Sarah Smith
The Billionaire’s Fake Fiancée by Annika Martin
The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Most Eligible Billionaire by Annika Martin
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Love is a Rogue by Lenora Bell
I received a complimentary copy of some of the books listed above by the author or publisher. All opinions are my own.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
Lady Beatrice Bentley wants nothing more than to have some peace and quiet while she writes her dictionary. She is an etymologist and has decided to leave London to her country estate – Thornhill House to write her book. While trying to work peacefully, she happens to cross paths with Samford Wright – the carpenter working on Thornhill House. Beatrice can’t stand Samford – he’s too loud, crass and all the lovely ladies at Thornhill House love him. Beatrice soon returns to London, never expecting to run into Wright again.
Beatrice and Samford’s paths cross once again when Beatrice finds that she is the owner of a bookshop her aunt left her and Samford comes on as her carpenter. Can these two keep their relationship strictly professional or will they end up mixing in some pleasure?
Love Is a Rogue had all of the things I am looking for in a romance – enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity and great friendships among the leads. While I truly enjoyed the friendship between Lady Beatrice and her girlfriends and Lady Beatrice’s love of books (hello bookworms everywhere), the chemistry between Beatrice and Samford was lacking for me. I wanted to root for them as a couple, but sadly I didn’t feel the spark between the two.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.
SYNOPSIS
I don’t want you. You mean nothing to me. I never loved you.
I turned my words into swords. And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall.
I said I’d never hurt her, and I did.
Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession.
Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of.
I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again.
But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.
A standalone angsty new adult romance.
Heroine: Lavender Waters (Alex and Violet Waters’ youngest daughter, PUCKED and FOREVER PUCKED couple origin, Pucked Series )
Hero: Kodiak (Kody) Bowman (Rook and Lainey Bowman’s son, A LIE FOR A LIE couple origin, All In Series )
REVIEW
Little Lies follows the relationship between Kodiak (if you remember he’s Rook and Lainey’s son from A Lie for a Lie) and Lavendar (Alex and Violet’s daughter from Pucked). Lavendar and Kodiak have always been close from a young age, but as they got older they started relying on each other a little too much and their families decided it was best to put some space between the two.
Lavendar and Kodiak haven’t seen other for a few years now and they’re both going to school at the same college in Chicago. Not only are they going to the same school, but they’re also neighbors. This puts them in close proximity often. Both Lavendar and Kodiak have to keep their guard up around each other because there’s been so much history between the two. They don’t exactly have a great relationship with a lot of pent up anger on both sides. Will they eventually be able to reconcile their friendship or are they bound to be at odds?
I absolutely loved the Pucked and All In series by Helena Hunting, so when I found out she was writing a new adult book surrounding Lavendar and Kodiak I was ecstatic!! Little Lies was so so good and I ended up binge reading 60% of Little Lies in one sitting. I love an angsty romance and Little Lies definitely delivered. I also really loved the way Helena was able to incorporate the flashback scenes in the book – letting the reader know why Kodiak and Lavendar’s relationship is so tumultuous. And at the same time this book was pulling on my heartstrings and I was rooting for Lavendar and Kodiak to get together!
Little Lies can be read as a standalone but I would highly recommend reading the Pucked/All In series! I hope that Helena continues with this universe and we get the stories for Lavendar’s siblings as well as cousins (I definitely want a book for BJ & Maverick!).
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her public radio station for years and although she’s always wanted to be a host of her own show, she’s good at her job.
Dominic Yun is a recent graduate and colleague at the station and Shay really really doesn’t like him. Not only is he younger than her, but he’s constantly telling everyone how he went to grad school (yawn) and is going to be a great reporter. He’s already guest starred on her own show (!) and the boss seems to really like him.
When a turn of events has Dominic and Shay hosting their own show – The Ex Talk – about exes and them playing the exes (even though they’ve never actually dated) they start to spend more time with other. Both of them soon realize that maybe they didn’t hate each other as much as they thought they did.
I really enjoyed the concept behind The Ex Talk. I loved how bits of the show were incorporated into the book and a lot of those scenes had me laughing out loud. The slow burn between Dominic and Shay had me feeling all the butterflies. Dominic is such a sweet and likable cinnamon roll hero. I loved how Shay and Dominic seemed to understand one another’s idiosyncrasies. Both of them were going through some big changes in life and I really felt their vulnerabilities.
I learned a lot about public radio while reading The Ex Talk, which was actually quite fascinating! I don’t think I ever thought to think there’s producers running a talk show or that there are a lot of behind the scene individuals making a radio show run so smoothly.
Another aspect of this book I really liked was the diversity in this romance! I honestly haven’t read too many romances with Jewish representation and I loved how Rachel Lynn Solomon incorporated so many cultures (Korean, Nigerian, Indian) as well as LGBTQ representation in The Ex Talk. I love to see that happening more and more in romances.
If you’re looking for an enemies-to-lovers, fake (ex) relationship, office romance then grab The Ex Talk when it releases January 26, 2021!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
Marcus Caster-Rupp is a hot shot movie star. He’s currently shooting the final season of his hit show Gods of the Gates. Fans love his easy going laid back charm. He’s easy on the eyes and the ladies love him! But what the world doesn’t know is that he’s also a writer – specifically a fanfic writer where he’s known as Book!AeneasWouldNever (BAWN).
April Whittier is a geologist and absolutely loves her job. What her friends and family don’t know is that she is also a fanfic writer known as Unapologetic Lavinia Stan(ULSIE) and loves cosplay! When she decides to go “live” on Twitter and show the the world who she really is in full cosplay – she’s nervous and afraid. April never imagined that her tweets would go viral though and wonders why. Turns out Marcus Caster-Rupp commented on her tweet by asking her out when trolls started commenting on her plus-size figure. Should she go out with Marcus? Would they even have anything in common?
As soon as I started reading Spoiler Alert, I had a huge grin on my face. I am/was (depending on the season) a huge fan of Game of Thrones and I loved the way Olivia Dade mirrored some parts of the show in Spoiler Alert. I always find it amazing how when you’re a celebrity, sometimes it’s hard to show the world who you really are – because you’re constantly scrutinized. I really felt for Marcus in this regard and how he was hiding this huge secret because he didn’t want to get hurt.
Marcus and Apil are both such complex characters and I feel like Olivia Dade did a wonderful job showing us their vulnerabilities. Their conversations both while chatting under their fanfic names and when they actually meet were so heartfelt. Olivia Dade did an absolutely amazing job merging the two worlds together in this book and I loved so many little details about it.
I could go on and on about how much I loved this wonderfully written romance! Grab yourself a copy of Spoiler Alert – you won’t be disappointed.
Cassius Ramsay deals in black and white. Either you’re innocent or guilty and he persecutes you as such. Being Lord Chief Justice of the High Court it is his duty after all. Ramsay also happens to be the half brother of Piers the Duke of Redmayne. Ramsay has been on occasion in the same vicinity of Cecelia and finds himself watching her and a growing attraction to her.
Although part of the Red Rogues along with Alexandra and Francesca, Cecelia felt deep loneliness and sadness growing up. She was an orphan and the person she had thought was her father treated her so cruelly. She suddenly finds herself owner of a gambling establishment – an establishment that Chief Justice Ramsay wants nothing more than destroy. When Cecelia’s life becomes endangered, Ramsay has no choice but to keep her safe while they figure out who is trying to destroy her establishment and hurt her in the process.
I had a hard time feeling the chemistry between Ramsay and Cecelia. There was simply too much going on in the plot for me to fully enjoy their romance. The last quarter of the book dragged for me, and I honestly had a hard time staying interested in the story.
I really enjoyed How to Love a Duke in Ten Days, and although All Scot and Bothered fell short for me, I am looking forward to Francesca’s book – The Devil in Her Bed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
At the age of twelve Azere promised her dying father that she would make him proud, grow up and marry a Nigerian man to preserve her culture. Azere is now no longer living in Nigeria and has migrated with her family to Canada where she has gone to school is currently working at a firm.
Azere’s mother loves to interfere with Azere’s life and sets her up on dates with men who she thinks would be a good fit for her daughter. But the men that Azere’s mother has in mind do not usually line up with Azere is looking for in a man.
Until one evening when a date gone wrong leads Azere to Rafael. Rafael is nothing like the men that Azere’s mother has been setting her up on. He’s sweet, funny and most importantly not Nigerian. Azere believes that her night with Rafael was just that – one night together. When Rafael ends up working at the same firm Azere works at, Azere has to decide if she wants to try to make a relationship work with Rafael or obey her fathers wishes and marry a Nigerian man.
I’m going to preface this review by stating that I am a second generation Indian-American. My mom migrated to America from India when she was in high school and my dad migrated in his early twenties. I completely understand what Azere is going through and how she is being pulled into two directions. On one hand she wants to obey her parents wishes and do as they say, and yet she’s had to assimilate and now has her Canadian culture mixed in as well. In the Indian culture this person is often referred to as a “pardesi” – which roughly translates to foreigner or “other country”.
There were parts of this book where I had to stop and share passages with my husband because we related so much to what Azere was going through. Azere did make a promise to her father, but at what cost? Will she ever be able to make her own choices – even if her choices may possibly have her lose part of her culture and alienate her from her family?
Jane Igharo is such a talented writer. I loved the way she wove the story from Azere’s past and present. And the way she incorporated rom-coms into the book was a delight!
Read Ties That Tether if you’re looking to learn more about a culture that may be different than your own. I loved learning about Azere’s Nigerian heritage and her struggles with assimilating to her new Canadian culture.
Ties That Tether was a great debut by Jane Igharo! I look forward to reading more of her work!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
Dr. Charlotte North has a good life in New York. She’s a physician with a good practice and loves the city life. But when her grandmother injures herself, Charlotte is on the first plane back to California to help her recover.
Ben Callahan has been a bit reckless in the past few months. He had a health scare a few months ago and has been living reckless and free. He decides it’s time to make a change with his life and that change just happens to coincide right when his ex-fling is back in town – Charlotte North or Doc as he affectionately calls her.
What starts off as Ben and Charlotte becoming friends, turns into a fake relationship with real feelings involved. With the two of them destined to be on opposite sides of the country – how will they make this “fake” relationship work if it ever turned real?
I enjoyed the second chance love story between Ben and Charlotte. I do wish I would have felt more of a connection between these two and maybe I’m missing out on a bit, because I jumped into Make Mine a Cowboy without having read the previous book first.
I always love a fake relationship and loved how Charlotte and Ben just kept on having to make excuses to lock lips with one another ;). The inner monologue for both did get to be a bit repetitive at times and there was no real angst or conflict to get over.
Overall, I enjoyed Make Mine a Cowboy and wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another book by A.J. Pine. I would give Make Mine a Cowboy 3.5 stars.
If you’re new to book blogging or bookstagram (Instagram mainly used for books) you may be wondering how bloggers are getting access to Advanced Reviewer Copies aka ARCs.
After posting my recent blog post about starting bookstagramming, a lot of friends were asking me how to email publishers and what I include in e-mails to publishers. I am by no means an expert, but thought I’d share my process with you – and hope that it helps! Here are a few follow up questions I had from that post and an example of an e-mail template!
How do you access ARCs?
There are various different ways to access ARCs. Possibly one of the best or easiest ways to get access to ARCs are digitally via NetGalley.
NetGalley is free to sign up and it is a great way to request and download thousands of books across many different genres. NetGalley was discussed in a previous post and you can read about it here if you’d like: How To Start Your Own Bookstagram
On some occasions book bloggers will also have access to physical ARCs. When I first started my bookstagramming/book blogging journey, I knew that bloggers could get access to e-ARCs via NetGalley, but I didn’t even know that publishing houses would send physical ARCs to book bloggers too!
Of course physical books look nice and take better pictures, but it isn’t always easy to acquire physical them. More time and therefore more money goes into producing a physical ARC. A lot of times these physical galleys are also limited and therefore publishers and publicists have a very limited reach on who has access to them.
How can I increase my chance of getting approval of ARCs?
Your best chances of getting approved of any kind of ARC, whether that’s an e-ARC or a physical ARC is if you try to cultivate a relationship with the publisher. Building relationships take time and the more time you put into a relationship, the higher your chances are of receiving an ARC you really want to read. Publishers like to see that you have been consistent with leaving reviews across social media and that you are active on your account.
As a book blogger/bookstagrammer/influencer you are providing publicity for a book and generating buzz! What are you doing that will help the publisher in getting other reviewers/book readers to pick up the book? These are the statistics/information that you should be adding into your e-mail request!
Your analytics and numbers as they relate to your blog or bookstagram are important, but so is how you showcase the ARC. As a book blogger, you are providing publicity for a book that you are reading. Are you leaving your reviews on as many platforms as possible ie: Blog, GoodReads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookBub? If not, then you should probably start doing that and sending review links to publishers/publicists once you’ve done so!
How long have you been book blogging? The longer that you have been blogging and the stronger your relationship with a publisher – the chances of you getting access to ARCs is typically higher.
What to include in an e-mail request to the publisher for an ARC?
Okay, so you’ve been doing this a while and have been consistent and actively book blogging. You’re ready to e-mail a publisher and ask for an ARC. What’s your next step?
I always start with finding out what the publicity e-mail is for the publishing house. There are many different e-mails and usually different e-mails for different imprints. So try to find out what imprint is publishing the book and then look for that e-mail address.
If you google “how to request an ARC” there are so many great and wonderful articles that are out there. I will leave you an example of what I generally put in my e-mails and you can add or take away from it to make it your own! The best part about it is that no two e-mails will be the same.
Example of an e-mail request:
Hi!
My name is [NAME] and I read and review [GENRE OF BOOKS YOU READ ie Romance, Thrillers, Historical Fiction] on my book blog – [NAME OF YOUR BLOG IF YOU HAVE ONE] as well as on [OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IE: INSTAGRAM, GOODREADS]
I would like to request a copy of [INSERT BOOK] ISBN [NUMBER]. I have been a fan of [AUTHOR] for a number of years and would love to be given the opportunity to read an ARC of [INSERT BOOK].
>>Insert all relevant statistics from your social media platforms next ie: Blog, Instagram, GoodReads, Twitter, Pinterest or any other social media platforms that you may use.
>>Also include links to all of these platforms, so that publishers may verify how active you are on your social media accounts.
If you consider me for this opportunity, my NetGalley email address is [INSERT EMAIL]
My mailing address is as follows: [INSERT YOUR ADDRESS]
Thank you for taking the time to read this email!
[SIGNATURE]
A few things to consider
You may at one point be requesting an ARC because it’s a favorite author, or the premise sounds so interesting to you, or you may be an own voices reviewer wanting to read a book that you identify with. Whatever your reasons are – try to incorporate them as much as possible within your e-mail request! This shows a genuine reason for wanting to read a book.
Always try to include as much relevant information as possible. If you prefer to read only physical ARCs and not NetGalley, then omit the NetGalley e-mail. I typically include my mailing address so that the publisher can have it on file.
Play around with your template and see what works best for you. I have formatted mine on many occasions based on how I feel the letter represents me.
The subject line in my e-mail request usually looks like this: [NAME OF BOOK] ARC REQUEST
Try to remember to be courteous and professional. After you’ve sent off your e-mail, you may not ever hear back from the publisher. Publicists are extremely busy and don’t always have a chance to e-mail you back. You may get an approval from NetGalley or the physical book may just end up being delivered to your doorstep.
If you’ve e-mailed the publisher and haven’t heard a response back, try to be patient and not send more than one request. Chances are that the publisher has seen your e-mail and either determined that they will send you the book or that for whatever reason you don’t qualify for a galley at this time.
Don’t be disheartened if you don’t hear anything back or get denied an ARC. Try for another book in a few months when you’ve had a chance to grow your account. Perhaps by that point you will have made more contacts as well.
What to do if you get the ARC you requested?
You have e-mailed the publisher and got a response back and are approved an ARC (yay!) – what are the next steps?
The publisher has taken time to approve you for an ARC (either an e-ARC or a physical ARC), so it would only be professional to read the book before the publishing date and leave reviews for the book.
It’s completely understandable if life happens and you aren’t able to read and review before publishing date, but any buzz that you can generate is usually appreciated.
Some publishers tell you exactly when they’d like for you to post on your social media – typically within a month or a few weeks before the book is published. Others leave it up to you and your discretion.
After reading and reviewing, I find it very important to always e-mail the publisher with review links. A lot of times they can forward these links to the author or use them as publicity for the book.
What happens if you requested an ARC, but it’s not what you expected?
It’s not a great feeling when you’re really excited to read a book you’ve been anticipating and then it’s totally not what you were expecting.
If it’s a book I have requested on NetGalley I will leave my honest feedback. I usually discuss at what point the book stopped working for me and my reason for discontinuing.
If it was a book that the publicist sent you directly, I definitely make it a point to e-mail them back. I inform them why the book wasn’t working for me.
Whatever your reasons – I always try to be upfront and honest. You will not love every single book that you read and that’s okay! Try your best to be professional and courteous when you discuss your reasons for not continuing with a book.
I hope that this post is helpful if you are trying to contact a publisher to request an ARC. Please let me know if you have any tips or if you have any questions!
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