We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
This week’s topic is Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection (What books did you get as presents this holiday season? Or what did you buy with gift cards?)
Santa, Baby (Holiday Nights #1)
Pub Date: 12 November 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:
(3.5 pandas)
She’s the intriguing and utterly lust-worthy little sister of his best friend. He’s the adorably hot guy she’s crushed on for a decade. They’ve never crossed that line, but now they’re snowed in together on an adult film set–and the cameras are rolling.
Nick has always wanted to check playing Santa off his struggling actor bucket list. But when he arrives at the gig to find people, well, filling each other’s stockings, it’s obvious he missed the small print: the job is Christmas porn, and he’s the grand finale. And his director and co-star? The off-limits sister of his best friend.
Holly lives a double life: quiet and conservative at home, brassy and bossy at her secret work in adult films. When Nick shows up on set she expects disaster, but there’s a hunger in his eyes as he watches her take charge on set, and they’re both eager to let their attraction take fire–for the sake of work, of course.
When an approaching snowstorm sends the crew home, it’s up to Nick and Holly to save her movie, and they agree to indulge for just one night. But when dirty talk and a decade of longing lead to deeper conversations and cozy cuddling, they’ll start to wonder if the Christmas miracle they make together can last all year long.
Author’s note: Santa, Baby is a steamy and sweet novella (about half the length of a typical romance) full of big feelings and filthy, dirty-talking sex. In its pages you’ll find a brother’s-best-friend romance full of sex-positivity, a totally besotted hero, and lots of sparkling Christmas spirit–all with an empowering HEA.
Toxic family relationships (controlling and close-minded parents), parental abandonment recounted, parent with depression and addiction
This was a cute, sexy and sex-positive holiday romance with plenty of fun tropes including brother’s best friend romance, grumpy/sunshine, getting snowed-in and staying stuck together (oop, we love it)! 😉 It was a take on romance featuring the adult entertainment industry that I’ve never read before and I found that refreshing. If you’re looking for a steamy read to add to your holiday romance list, this should definitely get on there!
I thought the story was well-written and the characters were well-developed for a novella. Nick is the happy-go-lucky Christmas-loving guy spreading holiday cheer everywhere he goes and in contrast, Holly is a bit of a quiet grinch who dislikes the holiday because of her toxic relationship with her close-minded and controlling family. There has always been an attraction between them that they’ve never acted upon as her brother is Nick’s bestie, so it’s a major shock that the quiet girl he’s always been curious about is directing the adult film he’s been hired for. It’s clear that their perceptions of each other are so different to what they’re like IRL and I loved seeing Nick and Holly get to know each other away from the connection that ties them together, Holly’s douchenugget of a brother. He is so encouraging and supportive of Holly and I loved how he showed her that she deserves to be surrounded by people who appreciate her and make her happy. The way he gave her the kind of Christmas she’s always dreamed of was so swoony and their steamy scenes were fire—there was definitely no lack of chemistry between them! But mixed in with the dirty-talking sex scenes were plenty of heartfelt and intimate moments that were very sweet and balanced the romance nicely!
Lovelight Farms (Lovelight #1)
Pub Date: 10 November 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:
(3.5 pandas)
Where the lovelight gleams…
A pasture of dead trees. A hostile takeover of the Santa barn by a family of raccoons. And shipments that have mysteriously gone missing. Lovelight Farms is not the magical winter wonderland of Stella Bloom’s dreams.
In an effort to save the Christmas tree farm she’s loved since she was a kid, she enters a contest with instafamous influencer Evelyn St. James. With the added publicity and the $100,000 cash prize, she might just be able to save the farm from its financial woes. There’s just one problem. To make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on the application and said she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only… there is no boyfriend.
Enter best friend Luka Peters. He just came home for some hot chocolate, and somehow got a farm and a serious girlfriend in the process.
Parental abandonment, parental infidelity recounted, alcohol abuse mentioned, grief & loss depiction, death of a parent recounted
This would be a great addition to your holiday romance reading lists because it’s perfectly atmospheric and the romance is sweet with a little bit of steam. This is for those who enjoy soft friends-to-lovers romances with cute heart-fluttering fake-dating moments! Though I didn’t end up loving this as much as I thought I would, I still thought this was a solid debut from Borison and I get why it’s so well-loved. 😍
The small-town and Lovelight Farms setting was great and the atmosphere perfectly captured the transition from fall to Thanksgiving to full-blown winter! Borison also did a great job of capturing little bits of small-town life full of nosy but well-meaning neighbourhood friendlies and though I wanted a bit more of it, I still really enjoyed the interactions we got between them and our MCs! I adored the side characters and what they brought to the story, especially Beckett, Layla and Dane. I think the difficulty I had was that I didn’t fully connect with either Stella or Luka and I didn’t feel the stakes of their fake-dating romance. The story is told from one POV, which already isn’t my favourite, but I was also pretty on the fence about Stella. She’s hardworking and ambitious but she’s also incredibly stubborn, gets in her own way and made frustrating decisions. I understood her fears but she also kept putting herself back in toxic situations, and not to sound too harsh, but I thought a lot of the sadness she felt was of her own making. This was especially true when it came to Luka and the “conflict” really frustrated me! 🤦🏻♀️ Sadly, while I thought Luka was adorable, and I loved his gleeful geekiness and how he would do practically anything for Stella, he felt flat and it made me wish even more that we got his POV!
The Geek Who Saved Christmas
Pub Date: 09 November 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance/LGBTQIA+
Panda Rating:
(4 stars)
His grumpy neighbor needs some holiday sunshine…
Gideon Holiday is the perfect neighbor. Need a cup of sugar? Spare folding chair? Extra batteries? He’s always ready to help. And he’s waited years for his hot, grumpy, silver fox neighbor, Paul, to need him. For anything. But this December, Gideon would be happy if he could just get the Scrooge-like Paul on board with the neighborhood holiday lights fundraiser.
Paul Frost has no intention of decking his halls or blazing any Yule logs. Even if his spunky bowtie-clad neighbor does look perfect for unwrapping, Paul would prefer to hide away until December is done. But when his beloved younger brother announces an unexpected visit, Paul needs all the trimmings for a festive homecoming—and fast.
Luckily, Gideon is there with a color-coded plan to save Christmas. Soon Paul’s hanging lights, trimming trees, and rolling out cookies. And steaming up his new flannel sheets with Gideon. How did that happen?
It’ll take some winter magic to preserve their happiness and keep these rival neighbors together longer than one holiday season.
The Geek Who Saved Christmas is a low-angst m/m holiday romance with a guaranteed happy ending. This grumpy/sunshine, neighbors-to-lovers, found family tale features two heroes in their forties figuring out that maybe their sexily-ever-after was right next door the whole time. It stands alone and is not connected to any of the author’s other universes. However, it does contain a heaping helping of the same emotions and steamy moments readers have come to expect!
Death of parents recounted, off-page, childhood family trauma recounted, toxic family relationships
This was a cute, sweet and festive grumpy-sunshine MM romance and it was absolutely full of holiday activities and spirit! There’s so much shopping, sentimental talks about holiday memories, and of course, all the Christmas decorating! As much as I enjoyed this one though, I didn’t feel particularly strongly about much of it—it was well-written and enjoyable, and I liked our MCs but I also didn’t feel an abundance of chemistry and at times felt a bit bored, which made the book seem very long.
I loved that Gideon and Paul are in their 40s and that the story delves into the aspects that make it a tough time of year for both of them. I think it’s a good reminder that not everyone has good memories and experiences of the holiday season for various reasons, but it’s also a heartwarming story about finding happiness and showing appreciation for your loved ones. Despite their personality differences, Gideon is the sunshine to Paul’s grump they’re both lonely and don’t have big or caring families to spend the holidays with. Both of their stories broke my heart but it was put back together again by seeing them allow each other into their lives by being emotionally vulnerable. I think one of my main grips would be the communication aspect. They eventually get it together, and I appreciate that there was no major blowout (this is a low-angst romance after all!), but they were so open with everything else and I wished they’d been straight about their feelings too. This book was like a Hallmark romance but with steam (not overly explicit) and the HEA was sweet and satisfying!
Do you read holiday romances and have you read any of these or are they on your TBR? If you have any holiday romance reccos, please share!
I’ve been seeing this tag floating around again over the last couple of days and since the (first and) last time I did it was in 2019, I decided why not do it again? It’s not like I have a bunch of other Christmas tags to choose from! *awkwardly clears throat* 🫣 On that note, let’s get straight to it, shall we? My answers apply only to my reading experience in 2022!
This tag was originally created by Jenniely.
Read More »
Hello, friends! The end of 2022 is speeding ever closer and I hope everyone’s doing okay especially as I know this time of year isn’t fun and fantastic for all. I’ve been doing pretty terribly with posting this week, smashing my posting streak to bits as my poor organisational skills took centre stage. 😂 All that being said, I decided to finally do the Bookish Smash or Pass tag originally developed by Becky @Becky’s Book Blog after not only being tagged by her but also by Sahi @My World of Books! Thanks to these lovelies for tagging me and don’t forget to check out their blogs for all the good SFF and other bookish things.
Now I’m wondering… Am I gonna smash on everything or is there something I’m going to pass on?! Without further ado, LET’S FIND OUT!
BIG SMASH! I’m definitely here for ALL the tropes, especially in my romances. I love knowing what I’m getting into especially if it’s a trope that I love but it’s also a good way for me to stay away from the books that have tropes I don’t like—such as the dreaded love triangle.
ABSOLUTE SMASH! I love alternating POVs. I’m all for the different perspectives and I think it makes for a more well-rounded story but also gives characters more depth. I’m less picky when it comes to SFF and contemporaries but when it comes to romances, I find myself getting annoyed when there’s only one POV. I need to know what both parties are thinking, please!
It’s gonna be a PASS for me, thanks. I mean, that’s not to say that I totally hate all books that have open endings, I’m generally okay with them if they’re satisfying but I’ve found that’s generally never the case and so if I had the choice, I’d definitely take my well-rounded, closed endings!
Eh… I mean… This is a toughie because I don’t read a lot of non-fiction even though I always set a yearly goal to read one more NF title than I did the year before (definitely failed this year, lol). I just can’t get into NF books as easily and it takes me yonks to read but I’m not against reading more either, y’know? So I’m going for SMASS. Smash-Pass = SMASS.
It’s a SMASH! I’ve always loved historical fiction and I still love a good historical setting. Some of my all-time favourite reads have historical settings (Persuasion, The Shadow of the Wind, and Evelyn Hugo to name a few)! I love what historical settings can add to a story too.
SMASHTASTIC! If I’m being honest it’s only in recent years that I came to develop a strong appreciation for morally grey characters and it’s all thanks to Schwab’s books—A Darker Shade of Magic series and Villains series, and the latter especially. Victor is *chefs kiss!*
Yeah, I can SMASH with this. I’m not particularly fussed with first-person POV but it really depends on the character(s). If they’re annoying then it’ll be an absolute nightmare to get through a book with this POV and it’s definitely happened before! 😂
SMASS. So, I don’t mind audiobooks but I don’t work through them as quickly and easily as many people seem to. When I find one that works, I usually finish a book faster and end up loving that audiobook; but I’m also quite picky when it comes to audiobooks and when I listen to one I have to give it every bit of my attention, so I can’t multitask while listening because otherwise, I miss everything. The narrator also needs to be really engaging, capture all the character’s voices well, and just be easy to listen to.
Well, it’s usually a PASS for me. If I’m being honest, I have about a bajillion books on my “let’s re-read this” list and the time to re-read never ever comes around. 😂 There are just too many books to read and not enough time to read all of them and re-read the rest. It’s cliche but it’s true! 🤷🏻♀️
SMASS! I don’t read a lot of classics but two of my all-time favourites are classics and I’m interested in reading more classics but I just struggle to get through them. And I mean, if given the choice between reading a classic or a contemporary or fantasy, I’d definitely pick the latter two.
YES! SMASH! I’ve come to love annotating books and now just highlighting and making notes on my Kindle but annotating in my physical books as well. I love tabbing and although I still haven’t fully leveled up to writing directly in my books, I do make notes on stickies and put them in there. There’s something so satisfying about annotating although it can definitely change the reading experience (in both positive/negative ways)!
How do people read some paperbacks and NOT crack the book spines? I’m not for it but like I’m also scratching my head in wonder because I have yet to be able to read a paperback without once cracking the spine, no matter how floppy it is. Sorry, it’s just facts!
I. Am. HERE for the smut. SMASH IT! Really not much for me to say other than yuh, I love it. 😂 Obviously, I prefer my smut with plot and if it serves to advance the characters and their stories but I’m also okay with mindless no plot, just smut books. They’re fun to read every now and again although I mostly don’t rate those books when I do read them!
SMASH THE LOT! I love and adore character-driven books and as much as I love a good strong plot, if I don’t like or connect with the characters, it will be a struggle for me to get through the book.
Eh, PASS. It’s really not my favourite storytelling method. There are definitely exceptions where I enjoy this alternating timeline but I usually find that I’m less engaged in one timeline, usually the past, and want to skip ahead to the present.
SMASH but only if it’s not dumpy, confusing or boring heavy world-building! I love when world-building is done well cos it helps me get lost in the story and love it even more.
Unsurprisingly, as predicted, I smashed a whole lot on this list, lol. On the whole, I think I’m a pretty easy-to-please reader but this was a super fun tag to do! 😊
Friends, it’s the second to last Wednesday of 2022!
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:
We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
This week’s topic is Books I Hope Santa Brings This Year/Bookish Wishes (Link-up those wishlists and grant some wishes for the holidays!)
Cloud Atlas
Publisher: Sceptre
Pub Date (Original): 17 August 2004
Genre: Literary Fiction
Panda Rating:
(4.5 pandas)
Six interlocking lives – one amazing adventure. In a narrative that circles the globe and reaches from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future, Cloud Atlas erases the boundaries of time, genre and language to offer an enthralling vision of humanity’s will to power, and where it will lead us.
Slavery, infidelity, drug use, crude humour, racism, attempted murder, violence, blood/gore, mutilation, suicide, rape (graphic on-page, off-page)
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:
Witches Get Stitches (Stay a Spell #3)
Pub Date: 20 July 2021
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
Violet Savoie has a plan. A dream, rather. To open her own tattoo shop, which caters to supernaturals in need of permanent charms. As a powerful Seer, she has the potent magic to cast every kind of spell. Except the kind to give werewolves control over their beastly side. And her business partner Nico needs help in the worst kind of way.
Nico Cruz has a secret. A motive, rather. To subtly stalk and seduce Violet until she finally recognizes they are fated to be together. Ever since their heated encounter in Austin on New Year’s Eve two years earlier, he’s been dying to get his hands—and his tongue—back on her body. He knows a woman like Violet can’t be courted in the usual way. Luckily, Nico has no scruples about misbehaving to get what he wants.
But when his former pack roams into town, and an old friend is far too interested in Violet, his focus shifts to the threat venturing into his territory. Nico may come across as the quiet, broody one, but the intruders are about to regret stepping foot in New Orleans. And when Violet goes missing, no charm or spell can keep Nico’s wolf at bay.
Kidnapping
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:
dinipandareads 