“Sometimes a bad seed was just a bad seed. No matter what field it was planted in, no matter how it was tended, some just came up rotten.” First time reading a book by Lucy Score and will not be the last. Noemi is always looking out for her twin sister Tina despite the many times Tina has stolen and done Noemi wrong, Noemi, a good-hearted person is found on a mission with temporary custody of her niece. On the verge of homelessness, Noemi is showered with great help from this new town, and Knox appears cranky and simply hates everyone. Knox who carries a reputation of doing one-night stands only appears to grow fond and protective towards Noemi. Needless to say, they both clash as Noemi is more of a planner and doesn’t stick to one nightstand, Knox is the complete opposite. Despite the lengthy story, it was yet very entertaining, full of sarcasm and slow-building suspense. Rating: 4.40 Author: Lucy Score Format: E-book Genre: Romance Publication year: 2022

“My gift has always been an ability to be happy. It sounds small until you live in the world for a while.” I partially enjoyed “When we were Mermaids” and I felt like it had its ups and downs so I wanted to give Barbara O’nelle another chance with this book. Unfortunately, I kept falling asleep and having to start again the audiobook more than 4 times :/ Samantha and Willow are half-sisters whose mother was a famous singer. Their mother lived a short life due to heroin, Samantha and Willow were raised by their aunt Gloria. Now, adults, Samantha and Willow struggle with relationships and careers. They both also seem to bump heads a lot as each believes the other sister is better, revealing some jealousy between them. The conflict arises when Gloria’s past begins to hunt her, facing serious legal consequences. I’m always appreciative of multiple POV’s and this story was written in 3 POVs. I did notice that Samantha is portrayed as being very smart, yet the story doesn’t really support those facts, she mostly comes off as mean, shallow and envious. This is my first time giving a listening to an audiobook so this might be why I didn’t enjoy it as much? This does not mean I will stop listening to audiobooks from now on lol When I hit the 30% mark I was totally dragging myself to finish it. I wasn’t able to connect with the characters at all either, perhaps this story will be best for those who are into music/art/gaming/coding. If you enjoy sister-conflict stories and family secrets, then I recommend you this book. Rating: 3.5 Author: Barbara O'Neal Format: Audiobook Genre: Fiction Publication year: 2021

Colleen Hoover does not disappoint. Although I felt like the story was predictable, I still enjoyed the plot twists and the personalities of each character, especially Clara. The story deals with a family drama where Chris (Morgan’s Husband), Jenny (Morgan’s sister), and Jonah (Chris’ best friend) are all pretty close with each other since high school. Clara is the product of teen pregnancy from Chris and Morgan. There is a mixture of resentment, misunderstanding, and unexpressed emotions that arise from Morgan and Clara after an accident occurs to Jenny and Chris. Jonah is passive but also confused with the new situation, given that he has a newborn to care for after Jenny’s car wreck. The book encompasses grief and the relationship between a mom and a teenager with a strong attitude while being conflicted with explaining the truth to your teenager about a recently found “secret” of your deceased husband. Rating: 4.10 Author: Colleen Hoover Format: E-book Genre: Romance Publication year: 2019

“Agriculture turned us into prisoners. We never wanted to grow crops and live in houses. We were nomads for millions of years.” Ellis Abbey is aware that her husband is cheating on her so her mindset is clouded by overthinking and confusion while having to look after her twin boys, which such stress causes her to mistakenly leave her infant in a car seat in the parking lot. By the time she returns, baby Viola is gone. Viola’s abduction causes Ellis to fall into addiction, depression and leaves her husband and twin boys hoping to recover. Glendy surpassed my expectations in “Where the Forest Meets the Stars” so I wanted to relive the experience with another one of her novels. This book is about 455 pages long so for me the audiobook worked wonders and the narrator was very engaging. This story was SO special, I mean it was so well-written and carried so much beauty. You will experience tragedy that led to drug abuse and alcoholism, the effects of maternal abandonment, marital infidelity, and earth healing. “You will have my spirit with you always, dear one. You need only look at the beauty of the earth, and I’ll be there” Rating: 5 Author: Glendy Vanderah Format: Audiobook Genre: Fiction Publication year: 2021

“𝑰’𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆—𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅—𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒎, 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕, 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆.” I was so hooked from the start until the end. If I didn’t have other things to do, I would’ve finished this book in one sitting. Seriously… read it. This romcom had me cracking up, I was very into the story as If I was living it myself, it kind of reminded me of “The Devil Wears Black” by L.J. Shen. ☺️ Huxley who is a businessman to the core sees everything as contracts and is a workaholic to a company that him and his brothers built up. Given that Huxley is a determined man, he comes across a deal that and will do anything to win such deal. Lottie, recently fired from her job appears desperate to find a plan to pay her bills and move out of her parents’ house as planned. Lottie and Huxley meet and agree on helping each other out, turning it into a very funny yet spicy story. There is so much sexual tension and slow burn within this story, highly recommend it 😉 Rate: 5 Author: Meghan Quinn Format: E-book Genre: Romance Published year: 2021

“Now that I’ve forgiven myself, the reminders of him only make me smile.“ After serving a prison sentence, Kenna Rowan hopes to reunite with Diem, her 4-year-old daughter. Kenna moves to a town closer to Diem in means to somehow find a way into her life. Ledger Ward who is connected to Diem and Kenna, is found in a back-and-forth predicament while justifying what is right and what feels right as he gets closer to Kenna, reaching a tipping point of losing everything. I have slowly become a CoHo fan ever since “It Ends With Us” so it was a no brainer that I should read her new book. I really stayed away from reading any reviews on “Reminders Of Him” because I wanted to see it for myself and discover it on my own. I took notes as I went along so I didn’t forget them to include them in my review. The first few chapters made me believe it would be a thriller (Verity-like) because I noticed the chapters were ending with a hidden message yet engaging enough to keep you flipping pages. The POV from Kenna and Ledger really helps you wrap your head around as far as emotions and the connection they both develop. Not sure if others have noticed but CoHo loves to include letters in her stories connecting an unraveling past story. I LOVED how she was able to put the POV of a child, using the right vocabulary of a child and her imagination. CoHo really puts details into her characters, and it is why her books are always fantastic! Though I’m not a mom and I think this story would shatter a mother’s heart, I still enjoyed this novel. PROS: • Straightforward • Romance • 2 POV CONS: • Predictable Rating: 4.5 Author: Colleen Hoover Format: E-book Genre: Romance Publication year: 2022