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Story Blurb Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right. They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart. Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without. For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart. When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past. Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic story of love and the people and choices that mark us forever. My Thoughts/Opinion I bumped this book to the top of my TBR because Prime just released the series and I wanted to make sure I had read the book ahead of watching it. This was my first Carley Fortune read though I have several friends who are big fans. She made it easy to stay in the story even with the dual timelines and I rooted for the young love that blossomed for Percy and Sam. I am not a huge fan of the twist though I saw it coming pretty early on. I also wish that a little more time was given to the present day story line at the end of the book. It felt a little rushed and could have been explored a little more deeply in my opinion. Looking forward to reading more from the author. Favorite Quote: “The way I felt about you was always so clear to me—even when we were young I knew you and I were meant for each other. Two halves of a whole. I loved you so much that the word ‘love’ didn’t seem big enough for how I felt.”

Story Blurb Book 1 - Mile High Zanders Chicago hockey isn’t complete without me—everyone’s favorite player to hate. I know my role, and I play it well. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy spending the majority of my game time in the penalty box before leaving the arena with a new girl on my arm each night. What I don’t like is the new flight attendant on our team’s private plane. She works for me, not the other way around. But I’ll be sure to remind her of that, and I can guarantee, by the end of the season, she’ll be begging to quit her job. But every road trip blurs the lines, and I can’t quite figure out if I keep pushing that flight attendant call button in order to push her buttons or if it’s more than that. Stevie I’ve been a flight attendant for years. I thought I’d see it all, but when my new job lands me onboard working for the most egotistical and self-righteous diva in the NHL, I start to second guess everything. Including the promise I made to myself of never hooking up with an athlete again…no matter how annoyingly tempting he may be. Evan Zanders is unfiltered, unapologetic, and too attractive for his own good. He loves his image, but I hate everything about it. Everything but him. My Thoughts/Opinion This series was super entertaining and easy to digest quickly. Fun summer reads all. As with the Play With Me series by Becka Mack, the first book in the series was my least favorite of all of them. But I definitely enjoyed it enough to keep going and I'm glad I did. And I actually think that the "bonus" book in this series, In Her Own League, was probably my favorite of all. My favorite quote is from that one. I'm late to the Liz Tomforde bandwagon but I am so glad I'm finally on it! Looking forward to her next series which was softly introduced in this one. Highly recommend the series for anyone looking for great banter and excellent writing. Favorite Quote: “We were two people who were lonelier than we realized and only found each other because we had the same hiding place.”

Story Blurb Wed me. Bed me. Slit my throat. Born in dirt, raised in rot, I dig graves for the dead, While the living decay around me. When my brother coughs blood, He appears. A man too polished for the graveyard, With a bargain too cruel for the light: Seduce the King. Become the Queen. Die. And my brother lives. Kael is a nightmare of living ruin, The rotting ruler of a festering realm. And Vale is his shadow, The cold architect of my demise. One man needs my heart to beat. The other plans to stop it forever. They think I’m a pawn. But I’m the gravedigger's daughter. And I know exactly where to bury them. Welcome to the funeral. My Thoughts/Opinion When my daughter who rarely cries told me to read this completed duology I immediately downloaded it in KU. Excellent writing, quite poetic given that the first book is essentially a dark Beauty and the Best retelling (kind of.) But I have to tell you that I was most of the way through the second book before I got it. Let me be clear, the books were fantastic and I read them in two days. But I didn't understand why they were powerful enough to make her cry until I did. I totally did. And I am not a crier in my normal reading experience. I truly truly cannot recommend this duology enough. If you're up for it, I promise you will not be disappointed. Favorite Quote: “Because love and loss are on the same coin - one side warmth, one side ache - but the value never changes. And to carve out the grief would be to erase the love that made the memory worth living. A thousand times over.”

Story Blurb Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night-until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths. Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach. As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they're plunged into the fight of a lifetime, making them question everything they thought they knew. My Thoughts/Opinion Was this series so good that I read all 2400 pages in a week? Yes. Do I wish I could read the story all over again? Yes. I don't know what it is about this author that she is able to write such sweeping sagas, involve so many characters and make you care about every single one of them. Bryce and Hunt are perfect for each other and just what this magical world needs. I'm also so grateful that there is purported to be a CC4 coming at some point because my only complaint is that there were several threads left open at the end of book three that I really want to have resolved. Favorite Quote: “You're the person I don't need to explain myself to - not when it matters. You see everything I am, and you don't run away from it.”

Story Blurb Love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth. Jane Jackson spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punch line on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s trying to be taken seriously as a Hollywood studio executive by embracing a new mantra: Fake it till you make it. Except she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she claimed that she could get mega popstar Jack Quinlan to write a song for the movie. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years. Now Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan as she faces down her past is Jane's idea of hell, but he just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true? My Thoughts/Opinion I don't even know where to start with all the things I loved about this story. I loved the author's inspiration for the book. I loved Jane and Dan's torturous path to love. My goodness, the yearning. Done SOOOOO well! I loved Dan's boisterous Irish family. I loved the hurting parts. The funny parts. The poignant parts. This was a fantastic read that will leave you thinking about it long after the end. Favorite Quote: “I’d like to be the person who could take all of your sad things and make them happy. Like I’d hunt down each one and turn it over.” “I don’t think anyone is that person for anyone,” I say. “I don’t think so either. But I’d like to be that person for you.”

Story Blurb As a professional cleaner, Abi Mariano never thought her apartment would have any sort of infestation, but because of a building-wide outbreak, she now needs somewhere to stay for a week. As a part-time student with two jobs, she doesn’t have many options. Then the solution presents itself: the owner of the penthouse she cleans is out of town for the week. She normally wouldn’t consider it, but he’s literally never around (she hasn’t even met him). It goes great…until one morning she finds two strangers in the kitchen. They’re the parents of the penthouse owner and they seem to think they’ve heard all about Abi—not as their son’s maid, but as his girlfriend. Declan Powell has always put his career first, working his way up to become an executive at his company, but he still has his sights set on the next level. When his parents mention that they met his girlfriend, “Abby,” he all but chokes on his escargot. As wonderful as it sounds that she was just darling, he doesn’t actually have a girlfriend—he made her up to get everyone off his back. When Dex finds out who Abi really is, he makes her a proposition: pretend to date him, and he’ll provide everything she needs during their little arrangement. What harm would it do? It’s purely business, no pleasure…right? My Thoughts/Opinion The premise of this story was just too good to pass up. I loved that both characters had skin in the game for this fake dating scam. I also loved how natural their chemistry was. The story was pretty predictable, but no complaints here. It was exactly the palate cleanser I was looking for. And the banter was top tier. Favorite Quote: “I kissed you because I wanted to. You look beautiful, I like your mouth, you kiss like a goddess—and we both liked it. That’s it. So maybe let’s not overthink it…?”

Story Blurb In everyone’s life, there’s a split-second decision that can change everything... For Larissa, it came when choosing who to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she’d met the perfect man. She and Chris are great friends, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread (pumpernickel for the win!). For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy. But she didn’t choose Chris to drive her home all those months ago—she went with his best friend, and he became her boyfriend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else. How can something that feels so right be absolutely impossible? My Thoughts/Opinion So many emotions in this one. Not surprising for an Abby read. I was a little leery of this book at first because I'm not a fan of love triangles, but fortunately that's not what this book was. Larissa and Chris were above reproach when it came to their interactions, but I wondered (as I usually do with an Abby book) how on earth she's going to make it all okay in the end. By she does and it's masterful as usual. While this isn't my favorite AJ book, I still enjoyed the story and the deeper themes she leaned into. I don't think I could ever not recommend a book written by this author. Favorite Quote: “There's something about going on a trip with someone. Seeing how the love exists everywhere, that it's something you carry wherever you go and not just the product of the world it was created in. Going grocery shopping together in a store you've never been to, figuring out what new place you want to eat at, discovering everything together and it all feels different and new except for them. They're the constant. They're the safe space.”

Story Blurb He’s looking for the perfect wife. She’s looking for the perfect one-night stand. Literary agent Zoey Moody has been exiled from the Manhattan publishing scene to small-town Pennsylvania with her best friend and only remaining client, romance novelist Hazel Hart. Zoey’s bank account is running on fumes, forcing her to liquidate her designer wardrobe to make ends meet. But this plucky heroine has a plan to climb her way back on top. Nothing will stand in her way. Okay. Nothing except her six-foot-two-inch blue-collar landlord, Gage Bishop. He’s smart, serious, and sexy. When he isn’t practicing law, he’s working with his equally attractive brothers in the family construction business. Worst of all, he’s ready to settle down. Zoey might be the most beautiful, infuriating woman Gage has ever met, but her special brand of chaos makes it clear they’re all wrong for each other. She’s allergic to commitment and afraid of animals. He’s looking for a wife and lives in a literal barn. (For clarification, it’s a converted barn. But he does live there with a golden retriever who doesn’t understand the concept of personal space.) These opposites can attract all they want. They both know it will never work out. For one, even if she wanted to, Zoey could never give him what he wants. But when Gage’s world is rocked by a devastating family secret, he turns to Zoey for one night to forget everything. That one night just might change everything…or ruin it. Yeah. That’s more likely. My Thoughts/Opinion I loved Zoey as Hazel's agent/sidekick in Story of My Life and have been waiting impatiently for her and Gage's story. Lucy Score has a way of injecting both humor and poignancy into her stories. But let's not kid ourselves - she's a true queen of hysterical banter and highly entertaining spice. Gage was such a perfect hero, almost too perfect, until he wasn't. And then I wasn't sure how these two were going to find their way back to each other. But I'm so glad they did! Now, I have to wait for Levi's story to round out this wonderful community of Story Lake. Favorite Quote: “You were never too much. They just weren't enough.”

Story Blurb IF HE CAN'T HAVE HER, NO ONE ELSE CAN Kade Mitchell is obsessed with someone he despises. A snake in an angel’s skin, Stacey Rhodes is everything he can’t forget – the girl who shattered his heart and drove him deep into the darkness of the underworld. He watched her for years. Killed anyone who came close to her. But now, granted a brief moment of freedom from the life he’s trapped in, he’s back home and driven to claim her again, breaking every rule he’s ever made for himself. Not even his hatred can stop the pull between them. But he’ll never forgive her… will he? My Thoughts/Opinion I wanted this story to be so much better than it turned out to be. I struggled mightily to like either of the main characters and I was almost halfway into the book still wondering what the plot was when the beginning of a plot developed. I also found it highly unlikely that our hero could so successfully lead such a double life. Or that the whole of the underworld with access to law enforcement data couldn't figure out who his girl was. Sorry, but this one was a no go for me. Plenty of other people love it though, so maybe it was a good book that I just wasn't in the right mood for. Favorite Quote: “Staying silent is like being in a mental prison.”

Story Blurb Over the course of two weeks, everything in Beartown will change. Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer storm reignites the old rivalry between Beartown and the neighboring town of Hed, a rivalry which has always been fought through their ice hockey teams. Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a better life, come home and joyfully reunite with their closest childhood friends. There is a new sense of optimism and purpose in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built down by the lake. Maya’s parents, meanwhile, are caught up in an investigation of the hockey club’s murky finances, and Amat—once the star of the Beartown team—has lost his way after an injury and a failed attempt to get drafted into the NHL. Simmering tensions between the two towns turn into acts of intimidation and then violence. All the while, a fourteen-year-old boy grows increasingly alienated from this hockey-obsessed community and is determined to take revenge on the people he holds responsible for his beloved sister’s death. He has a pistol and a plan that will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost more that it can stand. My Thoughts/Opinion This community and this story will live rent free in my head for a long, long time. This author's ability to bring me so many times to tears because of what happens to and by these characters cannot be understated. I'm still reeling. From the events that unfold, the alliances that are redrawn, how lives are impacted, and how things end. If you're looking for a series that you can marinate in throughout the reading experience and beyond, you absolutely must read this one. Favorite Quote: “We fool ourselves that we can protect the people we love, because if we accepted the truth we’d never let them out of our sight.”

Story Blurb Have you ever seen a town fall? Ours did. Have you ever seen a town rise? Ours did that, too. A small community tucked deep in the forest, Beartown is home to tough, hardworking people who don’t expect life to be easy or fair. No matter how difficult times get, they’ve always been able to take pride in their local ice hockey team. So it’s a cruel blow when they hear that Beartown ice hockey might soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in the neighboring town of Hed, take in that fact. As the tension mounts between the two adversaries, a newcomer arrives who gives Beartown hockey a surprising new coach and a chance at a comeback. Soon a team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; always dutiful and eager-to-please Bobo; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the town’s enmity with Hed grows more and more acute. As the big game approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up and their mutual contempt intensifies. By the time the last goal is scored, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after everything, the game they love can ever return to something as simple and innocent as a field of ice, two nets, and two teams. Us against you. My Thoughts/Opinion I couldn't wait to dive into the second book in this series. The people of Beartown captured my heart and Backman's writing style made me want to forgo my real life responsibilities just so I could get back to this world. And this story didn't disappoint. Deeper connections. Deeper secrets. Deeper loves. Deeper loss. Oh my goodness. How does this story just continue to get better and better? Favorite Quote: “The complicated thing about good and bad people alike is that most of us can be both at the same time.”

Story Blurb Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon.  For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals.  When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology. My Thoughts/Opinion This book was clever and cleverly written. The banter between the hero and heroine was smart and witty. You have to suspend your disbelief quite a lot in this story laced with a host of supernatural birds. I think overall the story could have been a little shorter and still accomplish the same humor and resolution, but all in all, it's a really fun refreshing read. Favorite Quote: “It was the lightest of kisses, but it reached deep inside her to stroke some exquisitely sensitive nerve and illuminate her inner darkness like the magical flash of some bird whose name she could not even begin to remember in that moment. She could barely remember her own.”