#96 of 2026

 Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding

This is a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma. Some names have been changed. For example, Emma's best friend in the original is Harriet, but in this, it's Nadine. Obviously,  there are other changes, but that was necessary to bring this Regency-era book to the 21st century. 

If you're not familiar with the basic story, Emma Woodhouse is the younger daughter of a wealthy man. She fancies herself a matchmaker, trying to set up those around her. Knightley is a neighbor, and gives Emma a hard time for, well, being her. 

Emma tries to set her friend up with one man, who, as it turns out, is interested in Emma and only pretends to be interested in her friend. Then there's an elusive man in their social circle that everyone thinks would be great for Emma, but he ends up being interested in someone else. Emma hurts feelings of some of the people around her, and she finally sees that maybe she really is just a spoiled rich girl. When I say this book is just an updated version, it's an updated version.

Admittedly, Emma, is not my favorite Jane Austen book, but I do like it. I don't read as many retellings of that story as I do other Austen novels. I have another book in this series, but it's a retelling of Persuasion. I'll be reading it too, as well as the Pride and Prejudice retelling. 

#95 of 2026

 Love Antidote by Brynne Weaver

I love Brynne Weaver's books. I've read her Ruinous Love trilogy, and two of the books in the Seasons of Carnage trilogy (waiting for the 3rd to come out next year). As much as I love her books though, I am not the biggest fan of her novellas. That was absolutely true here.

This was an audiobook, and it only took about an hour and a half to through. 

Isla is a pastry chef who is also an assassin. One night, a Michelin star reviewer comes into the restaurant where she works, but so does another guy. The other guy is her mark, but he gets her poisoned dessert by mistake. The other guy, whose name is Mateo, is also an assassin. 

Isla realizes her mistake, so she ends up saving Mateo's life, but she could've made bank if she took him out. Why doesn't she? Because he's hot. Seriously? The vapidity is real. Needless to say, I didn't rate it very highly.

#94 of 2026

 The Virgin Next Door by Lauren Blakely

For obvious reasons, I couldn't list this one on the "Currently Reading" poster that my department chair made for all of us to hang outside our classrooms. 

This was an audiobook, and it was a fairly quick "read." 

The premise is that Veronica is in publishing, but she also writes a column on the side about being a virgin. In the column, she talks about her fantasies and her dream guy, Mr. Sexy Pants. They have a meet cute while Veronica is out walking her dog, and Mr. Sexy Pants has a biking accident while swerving to avoid said dog. She accidentally flashes him her panties (and half of New York City, if we're being honest), and loses an earring. Milo, aka Mr. Sexy Pants, finds the earring and vows to return it to her. They're neighbors. 

Milo has himself been unlucky in love. His last girlfriend cheated on him with several other men, but then tried to keep his dog. They went to arbitration, and $5000 later, he gets to keep his dog. 

Milo and Veronica run into each other a couple of times, and after Veronica loses her job (for accidentally sending her column to her job-like everyone in her company- instead of the story she was editing), she interviews to work at Milo's bike and flower shop. He, obviously, doesn't know it's her until she comes in.

What comes next is them getting to know each other and checking items off of her fantasy list. 

It was a cute story, but not a lot in the way of substance. And that's ok! I've got a few more to listen to before I get into the holiday books I have downloaded, and those should be fun.

#93 of 2026

 Bad in Bed by Ali Hazelwood

As is likely to become apparent over the coming days/weeks/months, I am in my rom-com/smut era. Some of my favorite authors in this genre are Ali Hazelwood, Sophie Cousens, Christina Lauren, Emily Henry, Lauren Blakely, and Meghan Quinn. I am a sucker for a happy ending, likely because I am still searching for my own. The inevitable break-up before the happy ending always guts me, and I find bits of myself in the female leads. 

This particular book is only available in audio at present, and believe me, I will be procuring a physical copy in June 2027 when it becomes available. 

When this starts off, statistician grad student, Billie Van Buren, has a recently broken engagement from Harrison. Their break-up was quite public, and he made it known that Billie was bad in bed. 

Then there's Max. He's part of Billie's friend group, but has always teased her because she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and doesn't know how "regular" folks live. Max and Billie forge an agreement wherein Max will help Billie to no longer be bad in bed. 

What Billie doesn't know, is that Max has had it bad for her for over a decade, so this arrangement is his chance for her to get to see the real him. 

I loved the banter in this one. It goes without saying, if you don't want graphic sex scenes sullying your pages or your ears, you should skip this one.

On a related note, the voice actor for Teddy is one who has voiced several of the male leads in books I've read in the last few years. His voice, in my opinion, is kinda hot. Today, on social media, I saw a reel of the man behind the voice, and, well, it doesn't match. Not a bad looking guy, just not what one expects from that voice. 

#92 of 2026

 And Now Back to You by BK Borison

A year or so ago, I read the first book in what is now a duology (hopefully, there will be more to follow), First Time Caller. That one was a slow start for me, but I ultimately ended up enjoying it. I put it on hold with Libby ages ago, and it finally became available last week. 

This one is about Delilah, the weather girl on a small, local station in Baltimore, and Jackson, the weather guy on a small, local radio show in Baltimore. Initially, Jackson finds Delilah to be irritating. He leaves passive-aggressive notes on her car because he doesn't like the way she parks. It doesn't help that when they've met in person, she's been dressed as a chicken and also as a turtle. Jackson is very straitlaced, buttoned up, and orderly. He's raising his teenage twin sisters, and he has to be the constant in their life. 

Delilah, on the other hand, is a little bit more of a free spirit. Her Alzheimer's ridden grandpa is a large part of why she loves being a weather girl. It was something they bonded over when she was a child, but also, her being on the news every day, even though he doesn't always recognize that she's his granddaughter, brings a little sunshine into his life.

It's winter, and a big snowstorm is about to hit western Maryland. Delilah and Jackson are on assignment together to cover it, mostly so folks in Baltimore will see how it might affect them. Being that they are polar opposites, this starts out rocky, but as they spend more time together, they find there are things they like about each other. 

Between Keith at the station trying to make Delilah look bad, Jackson's mother trying to come back into his sisters' lives, and Grandpa ending up in the hospital, somehow Delilah and Jackson handle it all. Will there be a happy ending? Only one way for you to find out. 

Book #91 of 2026

 I know it's weird to resume the blog I've neglected for nearly three years with the 91st book I've finished this year, but here we are. 

It's been a while, I know, and I've read a lot of books since my last post. Some fantastic, some less so. I've also been listening to a lot of audiobooks, which is wild to me, since I was so resistant for a long time. While I've been away from the blog, I've been keeping book journals, but I just filled the last empty one I had, so I thought I'd come back to the format I love. Whether anyone reads this or not is a whole other story. 

So, book #91 was The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren. I need to take a look at my Goodreads logs, but I am pretty sure I have read most of the books by this duo. With the exception of Love and Other Words, I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one (I know! The one I didn't love is the one everyone gushes over). This was no exception.

The premise of this one is that Emery and Luca are married. It was literally love at first sight (or first laugh, but whatever), and they were irreparably in love from the very first moment they met. Emery is a doctor, but also she has developed this compound that can essentially aid in resurrecting a deceased individual. Her job is very secretive, and she has put it before everything, including her marriage to Luca. 

On the night of their 3rd anniversary, she's late meeting Luca for their celebratory dinner. In fact, he'd changed the reservation 2-3 times before canceling it completely. When Emery realizes how late she is, she calls Luca, who's out running to clear his head, and he tells her to meet him at a corner near their home. As she is getting ready to pick Luca up, a car comes out of nowhere, striking Luca. Luca dies in front of her eyes. Luckily, she has the compound she's been working on in her car, so she injects him with it and takes him back to the lab. 

While at the lab, Emery's best friend, Annie, helps her get Luca inside and into this machine that will begin healing him, as well as bring him back from the dead. There's just one catch: Luca has no memory at all. So, this book is about Luca and Emery finding their way back to each other. It's a beautiful story that left me in tears more than once. 

This is a sweet, contemporary romance, and although there's a little spice, it's on the mild side. You definitely read this one for the story and not the sex. 

One of my favorite quotes from the book is this one: “On paper, we still don’t make sense, but it turns out love doesn’t happen on paper.” I think that's true for a lot of people.

Anyway, this one is definitely worth your time. 

Oh, and it's nice to be back to the blog!

A Lot to Keep Straight

Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes

One day at the gym, Sam picks up a bag that she thinks is hers, but it isn't. In it is a Chanel jacket and Louboutins. She ends up wearing the items and having an amazing day at work. That same day, Nisha grabs a bag she thought was hers, and it wasn't. It had peasant shoes in it, if you will. A little later, Nisha's husband tells her he wants a divorce and cuts her off literally everywhere. Her husband has made it clear that in order for her to get any kind of divorce settlement, she has to bring him the shoes. What happens next is a series of events to get the shoes back. 

Nisha is able to track down Sam, and they end up friends. There is so much more to this story, but I am afraid to share too much lest I give it away. Suffice it to say, Moyes has written another fantastic book, and this one is very much worth your time.