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ericas_bookshelf's Reviews (963)

Sipping & Swooning

Karmen Lee

4.0

funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Setting Up Love

Rose Santoriello

5.0

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

All Boys Aren't Blue

George M. Johnson

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

Such an important novel, wow. This was deeply impactful and heart wrenching and hopeful, and overall just remarkable. I loved this.

Scythe & Sparrow

Brynne Weaver

5.0

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

BRYNNE HAS WRITTEN ANOTHER BANGER Y’ALL 🗣️

I fear I am just going to love anything Brynne writes at this point. Because what do you mean they both crochet, are kinky as shit, do sexy murder things together, AND they’re sweet and cozy with each other?? I love them. I love them. I love them.

A Little Kissing Between Friends

Chencia C. Higgins

4.0

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

“She wasn’t just my best friend, she was my heart.”

Friends to lovers romances are so wonderful to read to me. There’s just something so powerful about taking that step from friends to “more than”, that just adds SO much tension and yearning. On top of this dynamic you have phenomenal representation (a fat lesbian stud & a midsize bisexual femme), navigating bi-phobia, & an overall theme of being pro sex work since Jucee is an exotic dancer.

My one and only complaint is very minor, but I feel two people who are as close of friends as these two are, they would be better at communicating. 🤷

Still a very cute and fun read though! I definitely recommend it, I flew through this I having so much fun haha.

Shifting Gears

Jazz Forrester

5.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

The love I have for this book!! Now, when I first started reading it I got Hallmark movie vibes, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s definitely not something that keeps me engaged. However, I quickly fell in love with Nora & Dani’s dynamic and chemistry. They had so much longing and tension, when they finally got together I was giggling and kicking my feet. One of the things I loved most about them as a couple though, were the honest and raw discussions about intimacy they had with each other. It was so healthy and genuinely added to the passion of the sex scenes. These kinds of discussions in romance books are soooo important and I loved that Jazz included them.

There were also plenty of thoughtful details about this community of characters. Such as this Queer friend group and what it was like being Queer in a small town, and how they thrive by living loudly together. As a Queer person living in a small town I adored this detail. There’s also a scene with a Trans character that was beautiful and yet so simple, but made me tear up all the same. I don’t want to spoil it, but wow I loved it.

Additionally, the criticisms of big corporations and how they ruin communities for profit was a significant part of the plot. Nora is the CEO of a company that was run poorly by her piece of shit father who then gives her the company after he died. So she is currently trying to make improvements. Now, is this part of the plot a little cliche at times? Yeah, but honestly it didn’t bother me that much given that this is a fairly light hearted romance.

Overall, this was a beautifully done romance (I even enjoyed the third act break up y’all) that had me racing to buy a paperback copy for my shelves. I honestly can’t wait to see what else Jazz has in store for us. I’m hoping for a dual pov next time because I was dying to know all of Dani’s thoughts!!

Thirst

Marina Yuszczuk

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I dived into this only knowing that there was a sapphic vampire and that this was a literary horror novel. Bear in mind I read mostly romance novels lol. All that being said, this absolutely blew my mind. It was so uniquely written and atmospheric, I was immediately eager to know what happened next and when all the pieces would come together. The way the book shifts from the POV of an unknown female vampire in the 1800’s to a modern day single mother in Buenos Aires. This was unlike anything I’ve ever read and I am absolutely salivating for more books like this, wow.

*huge thanks to PRH Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review