katiedermody's reviews
1930 reviews

Okay, I loved this! I was always a big Beauty & the Beast girl, especially after I played Mrs. Potts in high school, so I was looking forward to this as soon as I saw people start to talk about it. It took me a bit to get to my hold, but I'm so glad I finally have. The references to the original are really clever, the enemies (ish) lovers is full of growling, banter,  denial, and pining. Bellamy is taking on this historical restoration on her own without her dad for the first time because he's been ill. She arrives to meet the mysterious "lost grandson" of the ridiculously rich man who hired them. Oliver has been hiding himself away for years after an accident that injured him and killed his parents, rumors abounding that he and the family are cursed. Over the months, they butt heads, eventually give in to their attraction, and become friends. Barely. It is all from her POV and it was pretty clear to me that he was into her but didn't know how to behave or express himself, which of course lead to distress for her. It's eventually spicy, often funny, definitely swoony and sweet at times, and I love that giving each other hell is a love language right til the end. I really enjoyed it and look forward to anything else the author brings us in the future. (And seriously, the references! The car, the chef's daughter named Nick... Incredible!)

I loved this one! I remember enjoying her first book and was excited for this one but took a little while to get to it between other holds, arcs, etc. and I'm glad I finally did because it's both so freaking cute and swoony and just so incredibly poignant for people my age (especially women). Josephine (Josie) is the creator, founder, and CEO of a fashion line that's working to expand into brick and mortar locations from just online, as well as achieving B corp status. After literally running into Will, a guy from her past, he ends up consulting for her and they eventually figure things out between them. It's all in her POV, but it was clearly to me very quickly how much he wanted her and when he finally let himself express it HOO BABY it was swoony and sexy. It takes longer for her because of her workaholic nature, partly of her own doing but also reality for women in their late 20s and early 30s who grew up as part of the grind culture. There were funny moments, a ton of lovely soft moments, and some great conversations about burn out and finding the right priorities in life. And seriously, some of the things this man says are just peak book boyfriend. Well done, Clare! 

Quotes:
"Because you are not and never have been a surface-level girl, Josephine. You're just a girl who loves things you have every right to love. And if I'm the boy who once convinced you that can't be true, then I will become the man who convinces you it absolutely is."

"What if I was okay with being your collateral damage?" he whispers.
My breath hitches. "What?"
"What if you took from me what you wanted and left the rest? I can take it." His voice is deep in his throat, breath warm on my skin. "Use me. Please. It would be an honor."

"The truth is I've been disguising the way I feel about you the best I can. But I'll stop that now. If you want."
His words create an avalanche. They create waves. They crack earth.
I cling to him, rubbing my nose against his soft shirt. "I want."

Beta read: I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the series now!

I had fully intended not to read any more holiday books right now but then was reminded that this one released at the new year and I'd been looking forward to it, so I decided to sneak it in. I'm glad I did! It's a novella, college romance, some sport involved (love interest is a hockey player, MC was a competitive figure skater until she couldn't be anymore, LI's brother is a gymnast, etc.), and it does take place over winter holidays from school. But what I was most interested in was the story: girl has a bit of a meet disaster with a guy and then gets friend zoned but is in love with him and when he agrees to come home with her as her fake boyfriend she hopes it'll turn into more. But then his twin brother ends up coming in his place, the one she can't stand because he hates her. But as they spend time together (some snowed-in only one bed, close proximity, fake dating beautiful time), she realizes how much she had wrong. There's also a tiny magical realism aspect. It was really good! The tension between them is great, and I figured out what was going on before she did, so that made it fun for me. The book is closed door up until the epilogue, which doesn't need to be read if that isn't your jam. Also, she has Endo and adenomyosis and the period (as impacted by these conditions) rep is great. Glad I decided to read it now!

This was so good! I had requested it from NetGalley a while ago and didn't remember much aside from best friends decide to get married so one can get his green card, but it was so much more than that. Within the first chapter, I saw Latinx rep, undocumented person rep, disability rep, and queer rep (including the characters attending a drag ball!), and I could already see the care the author put into portraying these experiences. 
Han (Alejandro) has lived in the US with his Tio, Tia, and family since he was a kid, and has shared an apartment with his best friend Kenny for the last five years. His parents are back in Mexico, and their relationship is strained because of his mother's addiction and the fact that he can't leave the country to go see them. So many facets of his life are influenced by the necessity to stay quiet, safe, unnoticed, and not risking deportation. When he loses his job, Kenny gets him a new one but soon realizes how serious things are. He leaves his abusive girlfriend, this time for the last time, and then proposes to Han that they get married for the green card. 
The men decide to go through with it and during their fake dating, engagement, etc. it becomes clear to both of them that the feelings were always there. But Kenny doesn't want to use Han as a rebound and Han thought he was straight. 
There were many emotions in this book, I teared up a couple times, laughed out loud multiple times, and swooned almost constantly because it is the quintessential best friends to lovers story and I loved it. I don't think I've read anything else by this author yet, but I definitely will now!
Thank you to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the arc. 
Release date: Jan 21/25

This one was still good, a little darker than any of the others as the omega escaped from sex trafficking right at the start, and then is claimed by one of the alphas in the pack accidentally/without prior discussion/etc. Serena agrees to stay with them only to stay away from the man who had her trapped before, and is drawn to all four men but two in particular. Avery is a newly pro MMA fighter and Jonah is a pro NFL player (same team as the guys in book1), and she feels safer around them pretty quickly, and later Spencer, professor and brother of their pack leader Tristan, whom Serena has the half bond with. Tristan can feel her emotions and stays away because of how fearful she is, and out of guilt, even though it physically causes him pain. Avery is definitely closer to morally grey than any other characters in this series, which also adds to the different tension. I still enjoyed it, and though there are still no new MCs with a happy immediate family, there's a reveal later on that brings potential for that to happen. Since I've read book4, I'll now have to wait for book5 to come out later in June. So far, I think book4 is my fave, flowed by book2. 

I think I liked this one more again! Remi has always wanted a family after left at children's home and put into foster care tonight at birth, not ever being chosen right through when she aged out. She's now trying not to be jealous of her best friend Meg and her pack (book1) and agrees to let them pay for a scent-matching organization. She doesn't think it'll work but reacts immediately to a pack of 3 and when they come in it's amazing and then not: she connects with Damon's playful flirtatious nature immediately, is shocked and thrilled with his packmate is Cassian, the boy she liked growing up before they came into their designations and never saw each other again, and then is shocked and not thrilled when his stepbrother, their pack leader Smith, is her scary, awful boss. The pack has to work to figure out if this will work for them, it's spicy, once again there's emotional depth to the characters, it's back in hockey territory with Damon and Cassian playing pro, and there's dyslexia rep. I have noticed a pattern in this series that almost no one has a family or parents they're in contact with (I think the only 2 of 14 main characters who did are in different books but are brother and sister, so it's still one family. Curious to see if this continues. 

My second last book of 2024 was the most recent in this series so I figured I may as well start things off in 2025 with some Omegaverse and read the first three. I'm not sure I enjoyed this one quite as much but it was still a spicy Omegaverse romance, so I was here for it. A pet name that I think was in the other one, usually makes me cringe but wasn't too bad last time, was here again and I didn't like it. But otherwise there were again a couple characters who needed to work out some emotional personal stuff, and the storyline about her not being raised with or taught the knowledge on how to be an omega and what to expect was good. On to the next one, which I think is hockey and more of my comfort zone vs football. 

We've made it to my last book of the year! I got this arc months ago but have been putting off reading it and saving it til the end because I wanted to wait until closer to release date (just under a month now!) and savor it. While it still didn't usurp Next to You  and Set the Record Straight as my fave HBY books, there's just something so easy and comfortable about reading her stories that it still felt like a pleasant ride despite some of the more emotional content, and I always love that about her writing.

We first met Sarah and Caleb in Out on a Limb, Sarah as Win's sister (essentially) and Caleb as her longtime friend and sort-of friend of Bo's. We learned that the couple started dating in high school and married really young right before Sarah's mom died from complications of ALS. In this book, they've hit a bit of a boiling point as Sarah realizes she never got to figure out who she was on her own or what she has in her life to be proud for that is just hers. These two very not-outdoorsey people end up on a week-long hiking trip held for couples wanting to Reignite their relationships. Neither of them want their marriage to end, and out in the wilderness, they discover to better rely on and support each other, and also to rely on and trust themselves. 

The book is all in Sarah's POV, which makes sense since this entire thing is largely her journey. It definitely is for both of them, but as a reader it was good to stay with her the entire time and see her rediscover her passion and the joy in her relationship with Caleb. They're both funny and sweet at times, awkward and biting at others, and the chemistry between them that only sort of went away is charged up as their emotional intimacy returns. But also, they're not supposed to have sex during the trip. 

It was great to see these characters again and learn more about them and their backstory via short flashbacks between each chapter. I love Sarah's personal journey from beginning to end of book, and Caleb is still the hot nerdy gentleman, this time also opening himself up to emotional growth that makes him a better partner. I also loved seeing Win and Bo, this time as parents to Gus, who is around two now. Funny little moments that call back to the first book were great, especially Gus now calling geese 'bully-birds'. While they weren't in a large portion of the book, seeing them at the beginning and more near the end re-established how close these two couples are and how they support one another like family should. 

I do wonder if part of me didn't connect as deeply to this book as some of Hannah's others because I'm not married or in a long-term relationship; that's happened before (Freya and Aiden's book in the Bergman series comes to mind), but that's also what makes me think that this is going to become a favorite for a lot of Hannah's readers who do relate to it. Regardless, I still enjoyed it and am so glad and grateful that I got to read it a little early so I can promote it right before release date (Jan 28/25). Thanks to Hannah and the publisher for the ARC!

Okay, I enjoyed this one right from the jump! The dedication was so great that I immediately texted my sister to tell her about it (because it basically was dedicated to us, IYKYK) and then had to message Hannah about it! I really enjoyed Jude and Olena's story in the first book but I LOVED Ada and Jesse's in this one. Avoidable forced proximity is quickly becoming one of my fave versions of the trope (as in: the idiots put and kept themselves there but didn't reallyyyy need to) and the friends to lovers aspect was SO well done here. I could tell they were friends since childhood, with the added layer that he was really her brother's best friend. Their banter, with, snark, and taunting of one another were all Incredible. I said this with the last one and it was even more abundantly clear in this one: Hannah really writes playful banter and friendly physical touch very well. Until it moves beyond that and then the spice is SPICY. I laughed, I teared up, my heart broke for them all while I wanted to just shake them and tell them to get it together, and then I felt it in my chest when they finally did. Loved them and loved it! Also, it had been a little bit since I read the first one, so I was proud of myself for pretty quickly realizing the side character connection before it became way more obvious later on (did I have to go back and search the name in the first book to make sure I was right? Yeah. But I was!). Oh and the neurodivergent rep was great again too!