Can’t Get Enough

Can’t Get Enough. Kennedy Ryan. 2025. Forever. 448 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an unbiased review, and I was dancing a whole jig at the “invite” to read it after missing the “read now”. I’d only been stalking the author and site for months. Since the beginning of the Skyland series, I’ve been saying “Ken...

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The Soulmate Project

The Soulmate Project. Reese Ryan. 2024. Forever. 304 pages. [Source: Public library.] I’m a sucker for a friends to lovers story, so The Soulmate Project was right up my alley. The book starts with a New Year’s Eve love confession by “girl next door” Emerie to her best friend Nicholas. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as planned and he doesn’t return her affections. Instead of ringing in the new year in a new relationship...

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Church Girl

Church Girl. Naima Simone. 2024. Afterglow Books. 264 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] Admittedly, the cover of Church Girl drew me in, and the story held my interest. Aaliyah is a runaway bride who left her small Alabama hometown to get out from under the thumb of her bishop father. She convinces her cousin to take her back to Chicago, where she’s planning to reinvent herse...

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Stuck Wit’ Chu

Stuck Wit’ Chu. Olivia Shaw-Reel. 2020. 149 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Stuck Wit’ Chu is essentially a story about a broken marriage and a couple at a crossroads. Keith and Marlow have been married over a decade, are parents to three young children, and have somehow lost their way. They’re navigating the Covid-19 pandemic while facing their own crisis at home, and the book follows their attempt to figure otu whether to s...

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Flamboyants

Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known. George M. Johnson. 2024. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 127 pages. [Source: Public library.] The Harlem Renaissance was a remarkable period in American history, but was pivotal within Black America. The “New Negro Movement” launched the careers of countless scholars, photographers, musicians, and dancers and ushered in a rebirth of racial pride and solidarity, in addition to le...

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Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots
Advance Reader Copy , Children's / June 21, 2016

Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots. Sheryl and Simon Shapiro. 2013. 24 pages. Annick Press. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] This is a cute and fun read for younger readers that focuses on shapes. It’s good to read to your child, but is also a fantastic start for emerging readers to try on their own. The rhyming scheme also helps with sounding out words they may not be familiar with....

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Big Cat, Small Cat
Advance Reader Copy , Children's / June 17, 2016

Big Cat, Small Cat. Ami Rubinger. 2009. 28 pages. Abbeville Kids. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] This is a cute picture book about … cats. It’s filled with contrasting descriptions (big/small; fair/dark, sick/well) of illustrated cats. Although we’re not huge cat fans in my household, we did enjoy the book. The illustrations are extremely colorful, and the details are fun/quirky....

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Yummy Addictions
Advance Reader Copy , Contemporary Romance / June 17, 2016

Yummy Addictions. Belle Davis. 2015. 145 pages. BD Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] I had so much fun reading Yummy Addictions!  I’m not sure if it was more because of the main characters’ playful, sensual rapport, or the decadence of the Parisienne  vacation the main character is one. Either way, it makes an unfortunately short book more fun to enjoy. Vale is a fun and relatable character.  She’...

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Fire in the Firefly
Advance Reader Copy , Fiction , Satire / June 17, 2016

Fire in the Firefly. Scott Gardiner. 2016. 313 pages. TAP books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s a satire, which is generally a departure from what I read. So while I enjoyed the story itself, the approach missed the mark for me. Julius Roebuck is a very self-assured man, and prides himself in his ability to read and understand women. The entire book follows him as he tries...

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Hideaway Cove
Advance Reader Copy , Contemporary Romance / June 16, 2016

Hideaway Cove. Anna Sullivan. 2014. 316 pages. Forever. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] I really enjoyed this book, and now I am going back to read the other books in the series. Hideaway Cove is one of those sleepy towns where the townspeople know everyone and the gossip mill is more pervasive than air. While outsiders try to find the heir to a missing millionaire in the sleepy town, the true heir is in life-or-death dang...