How to Find Love When You're Weird

How to Find Love When You're Weird (How to Rom-Com, #5) by Camilla Evergreen Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: June 6, 2023 Publisher: Indie Pages: 344 ISBN: 9798389298934 Genre: Romance | Contemporary | Adult Source: ARC Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Synopsis: Ellen is a neurodivergent book editor who is obsessed with all things moth and grammar. Hayes is a larger than life tattooed Norwegian bar owner who loves stars and constellations. Ellen meets Hayes on her 21st birthday when she ends up at his bar completely drunk. Fast forward five years when they meet again at a speed dating event. Hayes immediately wants a second chance but Ellen doesn’t remember him at all. The pair decide to fake date to help Hayes get his family off his back and to help Ellen practice dating and inherit her family cottage. 

Review: Oh my stars and garters!!😍What kind of magical book world did I walk into?! I saw the author looking for ARC readers and said yes simply for the fact that it had fake dating and the book cover looked cool. I’ve never read anything by Camilla before so I went into this apprehensive. I ended up falling hard for this book! It was almost impossible to put down. 

Ellen is the most magical and wonderful character in the entire world. Everything about her is just amazing and I wish she was real. I found so much of her personality to be relatable, and Hayes is right - she is ADORABLE. Literally the cutest! Hayes is like a real-life tattooed version of Thor. He is patient and kind, tenderhearted, and giving. Ellen and Hayes are both magical specimens.

I’ve decided that from now on I will also be a moth princess and carry a stuffed giraffe around in my purse while falling in love with a real-life Nordic God. 

I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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Yours Truly

Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2) by Abby Jimenez Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: April 11, 2023 Publisher: Forever Pages: 416 ISBN: 9781538704394  Genre: Romance | Contemporary | Adult Source: Own Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Synopsis: Dr. Briana Ortiz has lived her entire life for her career and her family. Recently divorced and running out of time to find a kidney donor for her brother, Briana can’t help but feel that her life is flatlining. She thought she was guaranteed the promotion at work but now it seems like a new doctor is gunning it for the position.

Dr. Jacob Maddox is looking for a fresh start. The thought of working at the same hospital as his ex-fiancé, who is now engaged to his brother, puts him straight into a panic attack. He’s hoping a new job will be the fresh start he needs to move on with his life but making friends with the staff is proving to be harder than he expected.

Review: This book was a rollercoaster of emotions for me! I laughed out loud, smiled with heart eyes, felt my heart crack open in pain, and sobbed so hard the words blurred together.

Jacob. *dreamy sigh* Jacob is perfect. He is everything. The best cinnamon roll to ever have cinnamon rolled. An angel from the writing Gods. Be still my swooning heart.

"We're all a little broke, Briana. We are a mosaic. We're made up of all those we've met and all the things we've been through. There are parts of us that are colorful and dark and jagged and beautiful. And I love every piece of you. Even the ones you wish didn't exist." - Abby Jimenez, Yours Truly

Briana is tough but guarded, lovable but distant, and incredibly smart but often judgmental. I know many didn’t enjoy her childlike behavior and man drama but I found all of it entirely relatable. I feel like the storyline handled it well. Poor girl had a lot going on in her life and had never taken the time to heal her heart and herself. It’s hard to practice self-care when you’re too busy caring for everyone else.

My favorite part of this entire story was the letters back and forth. I was giddy to read each and every single one of them, and then POOF! They just disappeared (until the end) and I was sad. Why Abby, why?!

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Under the Whispering Door

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: September 21, 2021 Publisher: Tor Books Pages: 384 ISBN: 9781250217349 Genre: Fantasy | Romance Source: Own Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Synopsis: Wallace has lived his entire life in the office dedicated to his work. When he finds himself in a nearly empty church at his funeral talking to the Reaper he has a hard time believing that he is dead. Acceptance starts to set in when the Reaper takes Wallace to Charon’s Crossing, a way station for crossing over. There he meets Hugo, the ferryman that will help him cross. That’s when reality starts to set in and Wallace must come to terms with the fact that his life on earth is over but his journey is just beginning.

Review: What a heartfelt story! I thoroughly enjoyed the way this book explores grief. There is so much complexity to it and it takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster. There is so much goodness in this book but don’t be fooled, it tackles some incredibly heavy topics surrounding grief and loss, including suicide.

"It's never enough, is it? Time. We always think we have so much of it but when it really counts, we don't have enough at all." - TJ Klune, Under the Whispering Door

Klune’s books always make me ugly cry and have all the feels. I’ve never read anything like this before and I’m glad I picked it up when I was in a good headspace but the topic also made me revisit feelings and memories of those I have lost. It’s a very emotional read.

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Part of Your World

Part of Your World (Part of Your World, #1) by Abby Jimenez Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: April 19, 2022 Publisher: Forever Pages: 400 ISBN: 9781538704370  Genre: Romance | Contemporary | Adult Source: Own Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Synopsis: Alexis Montgomery is an ER doctor carrying on her family's legacy which has never been a choice but instead was an expectation. Recently divorced and returning home from a family function she finds herself stranded on the side of the road in a small town, thankfully the Mayor sees her and stops to help.

Daniel Grant is not only the Mayor of the town, he is also a talented carpenter and the innkeeper of his family's historic home. Daniel may be 10 years younger than Alexis, but their age gap doesn't stop their attraction to one another.

Review: Why did I wait so long to read this?! This ended up being my favorite Abby J book to date, it's so good! I hated having to put this book down, it brought me so much happiness and my heart felt like it was bursting with joy at the turn of every page.

While this book is full of so many sweet and heart-gushing moments, it also covers some difficult themes around emotional abuse, physical abuse (side character), and anxiety. I enjoyed following along with Alexis's personal growth and self-discovery. She's an older character, in her 30s who is recently divorced and trying to find her way forward while dealing with the expectations of her wealthy family and the career they have planned out for her.

"She'd taught me this, primed me for my relationship with Neil. Made me believe that this was what love looked like. Bri was right. I'd been taught to placate assholes. I'd been taught by Mom." - Abby Jimenez, Part of Your Wrold

If you love a good small-town country boy/city girl romance or reimagined fairytales, then look no further. It's got loveable side characters including a deaf dog and baby goats in jammies!!

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Just His Barista

Just His Barista (Southern Roots, #5) by Donna Jeffries Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: March 28, 2023 Publisher: Indie Pages: 420 ISBN: 9781638762294  Genre: Romance | Contemporary | Adult Source: ARC Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Synopsis: Macie and Coy are co-owners of the coffee shop that has been in his family for years. The odd thing is, they don't exactly get along with each other. A few months ago they shared the most amazing kiss but that was a mistake and something Macie refuses to talk about. Now Macie is looking for a date to her friend's wedding Coy offers to go with her. Instead of saying yes right away, Macie convinces Coy to try out dating to see if a relationship would even work between them.

Review: I went into this book completely blind. I didn't read the description and I have not read any of the other books in this series. It can be read as a standalone but I am wondering if I would have enjoyed it and rated it higher if I had read the others. I was on the fence when I started it and the further I read, the more turned off I became. Macie's behavior and attitude were a real sour spot for me. I tolerated it at first but then it began to annoy me and leave me frustrated. I rolled my eyes at her so many times, and I truly found it hard to believe Coy would be in love with someone like her for so many years. She acted like a petulant child.

There was one point in this book when a couple of chapters were told from the perspective of various characters from the previous books. While the idea of it was cute, it was quite disruptive to the flow of the story. The story also felt fragmented. Perhaps this was because I didn't read the previous books but a lot of background information seemed to be missing.

Things I enjoyed: I loved the overall plot of this book. Coy was a great character and I found his personality to be enjoyable. There were also a lot of funny moments in the book that made me laugh out loud.

I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
 

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