katiedermody's reviews
1948 reviews

This was one of the options for a book club this month and it wasn't picked but I've always wanted/intended to read more Olivia Dade books, so I read it anyways even tho it is book 2 in a series. I'm not sure it mattered because it was a pretty insular story, taking place primarily during a two week vacation the FMC takes at a resort on an island in Florida for her 40th, where she meets a 26 year old former professional tennis player who now coaches at the resort. They have such a great meet cute, the way her larger size is part of the story was wonderful (he's so over the moon for all of her but there's also discussions of ableism, fatphobic treatment by men and doctors, etc. so it all felt genuine and not too pie in the sky). I've also been on a sports romance kick and it's very rarely tennis so it was interesting to throw another sport into the mix (I'm not a sports person in life but I love them as a romance reader). The two of them have to figure out if they're really compatible, she has to deal with hang ups from previous relationships and assumptions she makes because of the age difference, and he needs to figure out what he wants from life since he's a tad aimless after having to retire from playing earlier than he wanted to. The chronic pain and injury rep was appreciated, the caretaking was lovely, and the spice was there but not super explicit, so I think readers who don't mind sex in books but don't want it SPICY can still enjoy it. Definitely going to go back and read book 1 now, and then book 3!

This was still an enjoyable read but definitely not my fave of the series. I was glad to be back in hockey land, and the brother's rival becoming a teammate and being the sister's love interest actually surprised me in a good way. Overall, it still had a lot of the same side characters we grew to love over the series but the overall tone was a little more serious to me. Every book had its main characters dealing with some sort of emotional something, but one MC has a history of domestic violence and abuse from a parent and that's a big part of the story. I think the way it came together at the end was good and I see why the author did it that way, but I would have liked more time with them together out in the open and happy. Plus, the other three books got extended epilogue so this one having the short little epilogue as the wrap up for the entire series felt a little anticlimactic to me. 

I enjoyed this third book in the series, as well. Probably on the same level as the first one where I was invested in the characters and their story and wasn't disappointed, but not quite as much as I loved the second book. Sebastian, the adopted brother in the Callahan family, has liked his brother's girlfriend's best friend Mia as long as he's known her, and there were even hooking up in secret for a few months. Then she bailed before their first real date and they haven't really been speaking. But when Cooper and Penny are away, Mia's dorm floods and Sebastian rescues her by convincing her to stay at their house since he's alone. Of course they eventually start hooking up again but he doesn't know that she wants him as much as he wants her and always has, she's just scared because her family doesn't think there's anything she should do but become a teacher and housewife and mother, but she doesn't want kids or maybe even marriage, and she's actually in school for Astrophysics and wants to work at NASA. Wanting him that much scares her because she doesn't want that to abandon her dream, and thinks he deserves someone who can follow him through his baseball career like his birth mom did for his birth dad (who he's compared to all the time). The MLB draft is coming up soon but no one knows Seb is dreading it. I thought their connection was good, the mutual pining with a side of he falls first was good, the spice was spicing as per usual in this book. There's only been a few hints towards his sister's Izzy's book, which is next, but I think I've figured out who her secret guy might be, so I'm looking forward to reading it. 

This was really cute! Emma isn't one of the Jane Austen stories I know well, but this queer YA graphic novel retelling made me want to! Evan leads the GSA at his high school, is a makeup influencer and ballet dancer, and fabulously himself. He likes to meddle and be a matchmaker and the story is basically about him getting people wrong over and over and having to learn from his mistakes. But by the end his friends are all happy in their pairings that they made happen themselves. It was a cute, quick read. I have really been enjoying queer retellings of classics and this was no exception!

Okay I enjoyed the first book but I LOVED this one! First of all, I'm a sucker for redheads and Grace fulfills that with her beautiful flaming hair and freckles. Then she's a book nerd on top of it who makes an arrangement to work through a list of sexual experiences with Cooper, reformed playboy hockey hottie with dark hair/beard and blue eyes who is also actually a big nerd? I love them both and their relationship. She's his coache's daughter, which he doesn't know the first time they hook up. She wants to take control of her life and move on, almost four years after a high school boyfriend broke her trust and traumatized her, and she decides that if the rumors about Cooper's skills with the ladies are true, he's the perfect candidate. They start as a mutual partnership (he's been having a dry streak and it's affecting his game until they hook up), then evolve to friends with benefits, and then more. It happens so naturally as they fall for each other. He is such a sucker for her and become the ideal book boyfriend. They support each other, nerd out together, make each other laugh, and are very sexually compatible. I'm still looking forward to the other two siblings' books in the series (especially now that I know who Seb's LI is), but I have a feeling this book will remain my fave of the four. 

I didn't know what to expect from this one aside from "sports romance, end of college, sounds cute" and I really enjoyed it! Bex and James's connection is immediate, fake dating is one of my fave tropes (it's just always so delicious when they both realize they aren't pretending anymore and I thought the way that happened so smoothly in this one was nice, though it didn't give me the "oh Holy crap, I like them" moment), and it was actually spicier than I anticipated it being. I'm not sure what gave me that expectation aside from the book I read before it wasn't that spicy, but I was here for it. It's a fun sports romance but does actually deal with some difficult stuff too (their past relationships cause(d) a lot of hurt and family dynamics are interesting too), which I always appreciate because it makes it feel real to life. I'd seen people post about this author's books before and I definitely enjoyed this one enough that I'll be seeking out more right away! I'm happy that he has siblings and there are more books about them. This was a book club pick but I'm going to read the rest of this series right away. 

This book got to me in a way I probably should have seen coming but didn't. I actually found it because of the cover artist and thought "oh hey, sapphic novel that takes place around the holidays? Yes please!" The fact that one of the FMCs in question starts out as the girlfriend of the guy who shares the apartment with the other one and that's how they meet also seemed intriguing. Jamie is our beloved stereotypical chaos bi, with the added intensity of having ADHD and Dyslexia and being a theater person. She likes Beth immediately and tries to befriend her. Beth eventually finds herself drawn to Jamie too but is convinced she's straight, even though she's never felt satisfied or into it in any relationship she's ever had with a dude, including Derrick a little bit. She grew up in a conservative religious household and Jamie reminds her of her best friend from growing up, the last person she felt this kind of connection with. The book isn't super spicy, sex is more of a fade to black moment up until the time they ladies finally get together. Which is my main problem with the story: there is cheating involved. I can understand getting caught up in things, especially if you're going through the motions with your partner and then suddenly have all these feelings and attraction, and I'm sure it does happen when people are figuring out their sexuality. But I don't like it and that made the story not as good in the end, in my opinion. I did think the way the author wrote Beth, in denial, thinking she's jealous of Jamie (no, you want her), having grown up feeling like it isn't an option, you couldn't be, and then figuring it out much later. I just wish the cheating wasn't part of it, and for that reason I prob wouldn't seek out another book by this author. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. One one hand, if was your basic easy read MM sports-adjacent romance with a bi awakening but there was also something about little lines thrown in here and there that bugged me. One character says "for me the options are straight, bi, or gay" while talking to the dude who is questioning his sexuality. There are also a lot of homophobic "jokes" between friends that are explained by "oh no you're one of us if they're joking with you like that" or "that's just how she is". But in the same storyline where one MC deals with a former best friend who turned out to be homophobic but probably also not totally straight (which made him worse bigotry wise) it made me feel iffy about it all. There were also lots of good moments discussing acceptance, outing, etc. I also tried to find more about the author online to see if  they're queer because I feel like writing these things because it's real and happens in the world and you've experienced it as part of the community is different than writing about it just for entertainment and to sell books, and I couldn't find anything on who they are so I'm guessing it's a pen name. But at the same time, nobody owes anyone their sexuality and other authors have felt forcibly outed because of people hounding them or accusing them of things so I don't want to do that. Overall, I think I could have enjoyed more of the series after meeting characters who also have books, but all this mental turmoil about it means I'm not going to. There are so many other books out there that I can find queer romances that don't make me feel this way. 

And just like that, I have a new favorite Katie Golightly book. I loved the other two books and I thought Piper and Leo were going to be really hard to beat, but she did it. Colin and Scarlett are everything. I was hooked and heartbroken already by the author's note and prologue, squealing and excited for their relationship by chapter 4, and messaging Katie because I was crying by chapter 7. That was only the first time I cried, and there were just as many swoony, sexy, and sweet moments that hooked my heart because the way she writes characters makes them so real and I can't help but be emotionally invested in them. Scarlett (who I'm pretty sure has undiagnosed ADHD), with her rambling stories and seemingly chaotic brain, and Colin, living undiagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder until age 18 in the flashbacks and knowing, almost five years later more about himself and the kinds of accommodations he needs, were perfect for each other. It was the way she appreciated and craved his point blank honest way of speaking, and how he listened to her stories and loved that she told every little specific detail. It was that they first got together after a bit quite a joke about wishing for a scientific explanation for what you would like sexually and then deciding to do the experiment together to create such a thing. It was that even before they knew he had ASD, she loved his escentricities and that he wasn't like everybody else, and naturally found ways to help him be more comfortable in life. It was that even though he broke her heart, he both tried to work at her pace when he came back for a second chance and also made it very clear that he wasn't going anywhere. It was the way she was drawn to helping Theo, a young boy part of her art class who had ASD and then let Colin be his mentor even though if hurt her to have him around at that point. But more importantly, it was the way that Katie very clearly researched everything she possibly could about ASD and found a sensitivity reader to ensure that her portrayal of Colin and Theo were carefully, thoughtfully, and accurately done, which they really were. Everything was written with extreme care, including but not limited to the meltdowns, sensory reactivity, hypersexualoty, and the alarming rate of suicide and suicidal ideation in people with ASD. As someone who has been doing her own research on ASD, late diagnosis, making, and Level 1 Autism, this was a perfect book for me for to read right now. These two characters intrigued me any time we saw them in the previous two books and got even a glimpse of their story, and it absolutely did not disappoint. Also, the fact that he was quite literally a Milo Thatch coded character, nerdy with blonde hair and glasses, and she was a hot curvy redhead? Perfection! It was great to see the rest of the family and friends group again, and the little breadcrumbs made me excited for the rest of the series! Thank you for the arc copy, it felt like an honor to read this early. The book will be out in paperback and on KU on Nov 17/24.

I knew I was probably going to like this one because I've really enjoyed all of the author's other books, but I LOVED it. It's a very meta story, a romance book about romance authors who were together but he broke her heart and now years later due to some of the best romance tropes happening to them (forced promoxity, only one bed), they're writing a second chance Christmas romance novel together. Jess has published some books but is stuck coming up with an idea for the next one when she's asked (more like voluntold) to introduce Nick when he receives an industry award despite never actually writing a happy ending (which as we know, makes it not a true romance). Even though they haven't spoken since they broke up and he's had significantly more success than her, what she doesn't know is he's also been stuck for ideas. In the short time they message ahead of time, the verbal sparring inspired them both and when they end up storm stayed at the inn that hosted the awards, sharing a room because her reservation was lost, their editors suggest they write together. They do, becoming closer as the days go on, clearly still attracted to each other. She doesn't know he still loves her and regrets the way that they ended, and that it ended at all. I liked how fiesty she was, how sweet he was, and how they were clearly perfect for each other in so many ways. I used to think I didn't like second chance romances but I love them and this is simply the latest to prove that to me. Plus, everything was all Christmassy, which I'm starting to be in the mood for so the timing was perfect! This is definitely one I'll think about and want to read again someday, I'm sure. Well done, Falon Ballard! Also, the sneak peak of her next book has me so intrigued!