katiedermody's reviews
1930 reviews

Okay, I have been looking forward to this and it has been teased so well that I knew it was going to be good. It is SO GOOD! I have loved all of Letizia's books and this is certainly no exception. The forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine banter, city girl/farm boy, anxiety rep, family drama, big dreams, cute lil piglets, scrunchies and so much more made for a captivating story and I read it all in one sitting. There is a third act breakup but what happens at the end before the epilogue makes it worthwhile and does something I feel like I don't see a ton in romances by having the couple be apart for a good while after the "I love you"s. The epilogue itself is a lovely little now wrapping things up, and this is definitely a book I'll want to read again along with the rest of the series. 

This is sort of a novella sized collection of bonus and deleted scenes from book one and I really enjoyed the glimpses into the family's future together and how relationships progress. Some spice, some happily ever after, some realistic life. I like that this author puts these out as a group vs exclusive to certain editions of the book, only for Patreon, etc. (I don't begrudge authors, especially indie authors, having Patreon and other ways to make money, I just hate that I can afford to support them all and miss out on the extra stories.)

I thought this sounded cute and a fun last smutty venture into Christmas/holiday romance for the year with a little Omegaverse, and I really enjoyed it! I don't know if I've ever read one where all the Alphas are essentially strangers to each other and have to decide if they're going to become a pack. It was a whole other layer of tension and I kind of loved it. Knox, Micah, Gunnar, and Zane all end up snowed in with Emma at Knox's giant A-frame cabin/mansion where he prefers to be a hermit with only his dog for company. She's an omega and has run away from the wedding she was supposed to have with a pack that a matching service said should be super compatible but then were awful.  Then she scent matches with all four of the guys who rescue her. It's smutty, has some good emotional arcs for all of the main characters, and two of the alphas also are drawn to each other (aside from a couple pet names that aren't for me, my main "complaint" is that I wish we got more about them together, even though there was a decent amount, I'm just greedy). This is the most recent in an ongoing series, with three previous ones I will definitely be adding to my KU queue immediately. 

Update: the bonus story you get for subscribing to the author's newsletter has more of Gunnar and Zane's relationship development that I was wishing for!

This was a reread and I had forgotten how much I loved it! The migraine and ADHD rep were great and the demisexual rep was wonderful. Kate and Christopher have Antony and Kate from Bridgerton vibes and I love it. Fiesty, snarky, sarcastic, witty, but also so frustrated and fed up with one another to begin with, but with attraction and feelings developing nonetheless. The tenderness unbthus book was lovely as well, from him deciding to finally work at making things right between them once he learns how much his distance and ire has hurt her, to the caretaking done by both of them in seperate moments. This one definitely feels aspirational as far as finding the person you can just exist with on bad days, and they see all of you and love you. The spice was there, still not the most explicit but perhaps more than the last book. Overall I do think this is my fave of the two, but I'm very much looking forward to Juliet's book coming out in just over 2 weeks!

This was so wonderful! I don't have the same personal connection to it as the first one, but I still very much enjoyed the continuation of Christopher's story in his new life as a bakery owner. Since book one, he quit his job and opened a bakery in a small town in Wales. He's getting ready to close up for Christmas, to go see Haf and Kit, but it storms and the snow shuts down everything. The person who was going to rent his flat for the holiday manages to get there, though, so they have to share the space. Oh, and it turns out the man is his favorite American actor (but really Canadian)! They bicker, annoy each other, are eventually vulnerable with one another, and eventually it turns into more. It's open door but not very explicit. The best part for me was once again all the queer and disability rep! Christopher is embracing his bisexuality and briefly wonders if he's neurodivergent at one point, Nash is trans and has been publicly since he was a teen. I liked the way it was addressed directly, with care, at times and then not addressed at all other times because it was a simple fact of life. He also has a seizure disorder and the caretaking is beautiful. There's also a ton of care given regarding accessibility throughout the story, when multiple disabled side characters. It was so so good! 

This was a read in one evening Omegaverse, third and final in a series about a group of friends finding their packs. I read the other two earlier in the year and didn't remember a ton of details but knew I was looking forward to this third girl's story cuz she was fiesty. Elliot doesn't feel like a regular omega and doesn't want any of the expected omega things, so she's avoided deeper connections with the only men who have ever made her question that even a little: a pack of three alphas and her beta best friend slash assistant at work. They all end up sharing lodgings at a resort meant for romance (she was there for work) and slowly as she gets to know them all more she lets down her walls. There's the expected Omegaverse smut, but there were also some deep emotions because of her childhood emotional trauma that made her doubt her worth in the first place, which she does eventually get help for bit it's rough for a bit. There were two other omegas met in this book and it feels like they may get their own books as an offshoot if they haven't already (I need to look into that more). I wouldn't be surprised if it does happen since this author already connected this series to a previous one. Overall, exactly what I expected of it in a satisfying way, aside from the cover art not matching the character descriptions in a way that annoyed me. 

I knew I enjoyed this book the first time (or two?) I read it, but wanted to reread the first two before the third and final one comes out right away in January, and I'm glad I did because I liked it. I did audio this time and it was pretty good. It's vaguely Much Ado About Nothing inspired, and I kind of get it. Bea and James are set up by their friends after a meet disaster, and they decide to fake date to trick their friends and then dash their hopes (revenge). Of course, they fall in love. Bea's twin Juliet is dating James' roommate, which is how they meet, but he's not a great guy. The disability rep in this one is done well: Autism (the sensory aspects are relatable for sure) and anxiety. Time to read the next one and hope that Libby gets me the third right away. 

This one was interesting (positive)! It's reminiscent of th  movie The Santa Clause, but this time Santa doesn't die, is just injured and quits. And instead of one man/father, it's a couple who are in a bit of a marriage crisis. Patrick and Quinn haven't been married even a year yet but have been growing apart since they got engaged. Everything comes to a head Christmas Eve and they're spending the night in seperate rooms when all this goes down, they fill in for Santa and then are whisked to the North Pole. Pat is now Santa Patrick, and Quinn is the Merriest Mister (like First Mister but for Santa), and they start the year falling back in love and talking but then go a bit to their old ways and end up separating to save Christmas, wondering if they'll somehow find their way back to one another. It was cute but also sullen at times, full of Christmas cheer but also emotional, and delightfully queer while still realistic about how accepting (or not) society can be. As usual from this author, I liked but didn't love it. It actually had me questioning whether it would be a true romance by the end (it was but I didn't enjoy the discomfort) and the ends of the chapters often felt sudden and cut off. I'll still likely read more by this author in the future, and I'm glad I read this, but I did have a bit higher hopes for it. 

As with all of this author's books, I really enjoyed this. It felt like a real slice of life, one that a lot of people unfortunately think isn't worth being seen or existing, which is addressed in this book. Set in Florida, where the author themself grew up and there are so many harmful policies proposed and enacted to limit the rights and lives of trans and queer people (and anyone considered "other" to the people in power), the story is about a trans man coming home for the holidays for the first time in years because it's dangerous and uncomfortable but this year can't avoid it. He reunited with his first love, who is now divorced and dad to a precocious four year old girl. Eli and Nick bond again immediately and the feelings are there on both sides, which has Nick questioning whether he's as straight as he thought. There's family drama, racism to contend with as Nick is the first generation son of Asian immigrants, and big questions of the future. On one hand it felt like not a lot happened and it plodded along comfortably, but I know that not everyone would see it that way because so often trans and queer people don't get to see stories everyday stories with happy endings for people like them, so on the other a lot of important things happened and lives changed. I liked that mix of mundane and extraordinary, and I think we need more of it. I especially liked the way Nick doesn't land on a label for a long time, and the one he does chose for himself, as I found the "I don't know that it matters right now exactly what I am, I just know I'm not straight" aspect very relatable. 

Saw this in someone's recs for "more smut than plot" holiday romances and gave it a go. It's poly, kinky (make sure to read the author note at the beginning otherwise the content may appear different than it actually is), and very spicy. Was a quick read of a novella, had some snowed in, some lumberjacks, a husband and wife, and more.