Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
The Mistletoe Bet (Strawberry Hollow #1)
Pub Date: 1 November 2022
Genre: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
Everyone says “there’s no place like home”… well not for me.
When I’m forced to spend the holidays at home with my family in Strawberry Hollow, I have no idea how I’m even going to survive the week, let alone make it through my least favorite holiday… Christmas.
That is until I run into my childhood crush, and my brother’s best friend, Parker Grant.
Now, he’s the sexy, off-limits doctor in our small town, and nothing like the man I left behind six years ago.
While I hate the holidays, there is nothing that he loves more.
Well, other than a good bet.
Which is exactly what happens when we end up together under the mistletoe.
A bet that changes everything.
He asks for the next seven days to change my mind about Christmas.
But seven days alone with Parker is more than either of us bargained for.
Now, there’s much more at stake than a silly mistletoe bet.
The Mistletoe Bet is a complete standalone Christmas novella with lots of banter, even more laughter and a heartwarming HEA.
This novella is the perfect book to kick off all your holiday romance reads this season! It was a little cheesy but even for a mild Grinchie like myself, I thought it was adorable with just a light touch of steaminess.
Quinn and Parker were cute together and I enjoyed the Christmas adventures they went on as Parker tried to convince Quinn that by the end of their bet, she’d love Christmas and their hometown again. Despite Quinn’s grumpiness and her adamance that she would not be swayed by the festive dates and she would not swoon over sexy Doctor Parker, she slowly acknowledged how much she missed being around the people she loved and how things and people can and do change over time.
These two have great chemistry and I liked that there was no drama at all, especially considering Parker is Quinn’s brother’s bestie. It was refreshingly mature! This story has such a feel-good and cosy vibe and it is like a Hallmark holiday romance but with steam! 😉 If this sounds like your jam, I’d recommend checking it out. I had a lot of fun with it and I can’t wait to read more from Strawberry Hollow! 😍
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We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time reading in bed or wish you had time to read today!
I’ve entered my shifter romance phase, friends! Kidding. Maybe? But I’ll be spending the rest of this Sunday in bed with The Lone Wolf’s Rejected Mate. This is the third in a rejected mate shifter romance and while I don’t think I’m loving the series, I don’t know, I guess I’m eating cos I’m on book three, lol. 😂
The Marriage Game (Marriage Game #1)
Publisher: Berkley
Pub Date: 9 June 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
A high stakes wager pits an aspiring entrepreneur against a ruthless CEO in this sexy romantic comedy.
After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn’t know he’s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door…
As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he’s forced to share his space with the owner’s beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.
As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.
Alcoholism, death of a sibling, domestic violence (recounted), cheating (recounted)
TL;DR: With the average to low ratings for this book, I was honestly unsure how I’d feel about it but I have to say I enjoyed it more than expected! Layla and her family, all the dates she goes on, even the sexy moments with Sam—I thought they were great and made for a pretty fun read. What made me not rate this higher was the way Sam’s actions (and those of his “friends”) were brushed over and even kind of “redeemed” in the end when honestly, there should have been a hell of a lot more grovelling involved. All his apologies, of which there were a few, felt undeserved and I think this man got off way too easily for the things he did and said. Ultimately, I’m glad they got their HEA but I wish Layla made him work for it a bit more! 😜
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Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:
First lines:
“Airports are the true chaotic evil.
There are too many things happening around me. Too many people in a hurry, too many people lazing around, too many announcements on the overhead speakers, and way too many tearful goodbyes.”
Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
It’s that time of the year when we start wrapping things up again and to kick things off this year I’ll be doing the End of Year Book Tag! I’ve been seeing more people do it lately which reminded me of its existence and since I’ve loved doing it in previous years, I thought why not? It’s been a minute since I did a tag, too. If you’re curious to see how my previous years went check out my 2019, 2020, and 2022 editions.
This tag was originally created by booktuber Ariel Bissett.
There are a couple of books I started this year and still want to finish. At the top of that list are Rival Radio by Kathryn Nolan and Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean.
I’m not much of a seasonal reader so I don’t have a “go-to” book that I read to transition into the end of the year. I read a couple of fun ones this year though including:
I actually have paid so little attention to releases this year because I just didn’t have the headspace. 😭 But these are a few of the December 2023 releases that came out last week that I’m looking forward to reading!
It’s been a tough reading year for me with a handful of books that have stood out but only one or two that really made it onto my new all-time faves list. I think A River Enchanted and Before I Let Go have the potential to be new favourites… Whether they become the favourite of the year? Well, we’ll see! 😂
I was lucky to get my hands on a couple of ARCs for 2024 releases by BIPOC authors and I’m so looking forward to reading all of them! I’m also obsessed with all of these covers. Like, can we just sit here and appreciate them? 😍
I’m not tagging anyone this time but if you feel like doing it, feel free to link back so I can check out your answers! How was your reading in 2023? Discover any new all-time faves? Have you read any of these or are they also on your TBR?
We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time reading in bed or wish you had time to read today!
This Sunday I’ve spent my time in bed with Trade Me by Courtney Milan. This author has been on my TBR for a while now but this is my first book by her and so far, it’s a really strong start and I’m so glad to be enjoying this. 😃 I just hope that the feeling endures, lol!
I usually have these community posts as part of my monthly wrap-ups but the end of November was a tiny bit overwhelming so I didn’t have time to sort through my bookmarks for the posts. So I’ve decided to dedicate a separate post this month so I can still share the posts I read in November! ✨💜
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I don’t even know where November went because it passed in a literal blink. How are we already in the last month of 2023 and can someone tell me how I can make time slow down a little? It’s been a stressful month with my anxiety skyrocketing thanks to work activities and I know the feelings won’t let up until at least mid-December when projects end and accounts close. 😮💨 Wish it was here already! The highlights for November include:
dinipandareads 