Planning Perfect

Planning Perfect  by Haley Neil Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: February 14, 2023 Publisher: Bloomsbury Pages: 352 ISBN: 9781547607495 Genre: Young Adult | Romance Source: Library Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Synopsis: Felicity is a planner. Not only does she love to plan events, but she also has her life all planned out. When her mom announces her engagement, Felicity can't help but jump into wedding planning mode. Then her long-distant friend Nancy offers up her family's apple orchard for the wedding and Felicity jumps at the opportunity for not only a Pinterest-perfect wedding but a chance to spend her summer with Nancy. But the more time Felicity and Nancy spend together, the more obvious it becomes that their feelings for each other are more than just friendship.

Review: I am a sucker for a good YA romance. There is something so sweet and wholesome about first love. I love having a front-row seat to view someone's first chance at a relationship. It's so fresh and exciting! I was drawn in from the first chapter and hooked the entire way through. Planning Perfect gives off serious Gilmore Girl vibes! 

Felicity is such a quirky character. She honestly has the best intentions and as an overachieving planner myself, I really related to Felicity. I could totally relate to many of her quirks. Aspects of her life felt very authentic. This was the first book I have read with an asexual character and I felt like the author did a fantastic job of explaining it.

Overall I give this book 4 stars because I loved the plot, I enjoyed the characters, and the storyline was very engaging. 

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Things We Hide from the Light

Things We Hide from the Light (Knockemout, #2) by Lucy Score Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: February 21, 2023 Publisher: Bloom Books Pages: 592 ISBN: 9781399713771 Genre: Romance | Contemporary | Adult Source: Own Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Synopsis: Police Chief Nash who is known around town as Studley Do Right and admired by all of the citizens for how good his butt looks in his pants, is recovering from a gunshot wound. Not only is Nash struggling with his recovery and trying to fight off the depression and anxiety that are plaguing him, but he is also trying to get his memory back from the night he was shot so he can figure out who shot him and left him for dead.

Lina is in town trying to recover an asset for an insurance company she works for. Her plans are to get in, find what she needs, and get out. What she isn't planning for is to fall for the man next door. Nash is everything Lina is not looking for but Lina is everything that Nash needs. These two get dragged into the same orbit and sparks begin to fly when they are forced into proximity with each other.

Review: I am head over heels in love with this book! *Swoon* I fell in love with these characters in book 1 so to get to see their story continue and to hear from Nash and Lina's point of view was wonderful. Nash is incredibly sweet and has a great personality. I love the whole cinnamon roll/bad girl thing with both Nash and Lina. Seriously, they are made for each other and complement each other perfectly.

The anxiety and PTSD rep is spot on in this book. There are a few scenes where Nash experiences a panic attack and Lucy's writing made it feel very realistic and relatable. My heart hurt for him and it's no wonder that Lina had a hard time keeping herself out of his orbit. He would be impossible to ignore!

In my experience, the second book is never as good as the first but I actually loved this book more. There was adventure, lots of sass, and a delicious amount of steam. Lucy sure does know how to write about intimate moments in a way that can make grown women blush. Even though this story was almost 600 pages long, I still was bummed when it ended. I can't wait to go back to Knockemout in September so I can hear Lucian's story. I am 100% certain that Lucian is going to be my next book boyfriend.

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Things We Never Got Over

Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout, #1) by Lucy Score Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: Jan 13, 2022 Publisher: Bloom Books Pages: 552 ISBN: 9781945631832 Genre: Romance | Contemporary | Adult Source: Own Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Synopsis: Naomi is a runaway bride heading to rescue her estranged diabolical twin in some small honky tonk town called Knockemout. She doesn’t expect her sister to steal her car and cash and skip town. She also doesn’t expect to be left as the caregiver for a niece she didn’t know she had.

Knox is a grumpy tattooed bad-boy barber who likes his solitary life and has no time or interest in drama. He might have a hard exterior but he can't in good conscience just leave a woman and child stranded with no vehicle or money at a rat-infested motel.

Review: I am obsessed with this book! Can I just pack up and move to Knockemout?! I held off on reading this book for a while because of all the hype but then my book club picked the second book in the series for their March read so obviously I had to read this one first.

This is a small-town romance with a grumpy hero who meets a sunshine damsel in distress.

I loved the writing style. I loved the plot and storyline. The characters are absolute perfection. Knox and Naomi are perfect together. The spicy scenes were swoon-worthy.

At first, I was really unsure of this book, Knockemout sounded like a scary place with bikers and people constantly fighting and throwing punches. But this book completely drew me in and I fell in love with the entire town and I came to love these characters and their personalities. I’m a sucker for a good found family novel! This book is legit everything I never knew I needed and is unlike anything I have read before.

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