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    Hi, I am Alicia!

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    Hi, I'm Suzanne. Proofreader by day, book blogger by night, devourer of books 24/7. My reading tastes: Basically you name it, I probably like it. I read a lot of contemporary and historical, both adult and YA, and I've also been enjoying more and more fantasy lately. Hobbies include: buying and hoarding of books, rambling about books to anyone who will listen, and trying to recommend books to my family and friends whether they are readers or not - because seriously, how can you not love to read books?

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    📚 MESSY MONDAY - JUNE WRAP UP 📚 I’ll be s 📚 MESSY MONDAY - JUNE WRAP UP 📚 I’ll be sharing my July hopefuls sometime in the next day or so, but for today, here’s my June wrap-up. The company I work for does half day Fridays all summer long so I get quite a bit of extra reading time during those months. I read 22 books in June. Most were arcs but I also added two pretty thick books off my physical TBR, Quicksilver and Binding 13. With the exception of one book I DNFed after starting it three different times throughout the month and giving up each time, I really enjoyed everything I read, so I’d say it was a pretty good month. My photo features all of the physical copies I read, but I also read a few e-arcs and listened to several audiobooks as well. I got into such a groove with my reading that I got behind on my reviews so several of these reviews will be posting throughout the week. ❓QOTD: How was your reading month? What were some of your favorite June reads? ❤️ 5 STARS ❤️ My Friends by Fredrik Backman Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel 🧡 4.5 STARS 🧡 The Love Fix by Jill Shalvis Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston Till Summer Do Us Part by Meghan Quinn 💛 4 STARS 💛 Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler The Last Second Chance by Lucy Score The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware Gold Coast Dilemma Writing Mr. Wrong by Kelley Armstrong Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell Quicksilver by Callie Hart Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver Never Been Shipped by Alicia Thompson Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage Gloves Off by Stephanie Archer Seas the Dating Coach by Laura Langa Total Dreamboat by Katelyn Doyle 💚 3.5 STARS 💚 NONE 💙 3 STARS 💙 NONE 💜 2 or 1 STARS, or DNFs 💜 The Berry Pickers - DNF for now, may try again #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #books #bookish #booksbooksbooks #booklover #bookworm #booksta #moodreader #readersofinstagram #readmorebooks #igreads #igbooks #coverlove #booknerd #booksreadinjune #junewrapup #bookrecommendations
    🩷 Match Your Bookmark Monday & What This Week 🩷 Is Match Your Bookmark Monday a thing? If not, it should be! I’m obsessed with the color palette in this “Cozy Up with a Good Book” bookmark from @EmilyCromwellDesigns so I thought it would be fun to see if I could make a matching bookstack from the books on my shelves. I think I got pretty close! Books Featured: 💙How to Hide in Plain Sight by Emma Noyes 💗Let’s Call Her Barbie by Renee Rosen 💚Wild Side by Elsie Silver 🩷Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood 💛Too Hard to Forget by Tessa Bailey 🧡This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan 💜Catching Feelings by Maren Moore — WHAT THIS WEEK — I honestly don’t have too much going on this week. It’s a short work week because of the 4th of July holiday but we don’t really have any big plans for that. We might do some grilling but otherwise I’ll just be taking advantage of the long weekend to get in some extra reading and review writing time. ✨What I’m Reading - I’m reading Overruled, Rose in Chains, and Cake this week. ✨What I’m Watching - Honestly nothing. I can’t even remember the last time I watched anything. ✨What I’m Listening to - My hold for the audiobook of Lights Out just became available so I’m starting that tonight. ✨What I’m Snacking on Lately - Popcorn and the occasional Snickers bar. ❓QOTD - Answer one of the above prompts.
    ✨25 in 2025 Read #12 - BELLADONNA by Adalyn Grac ✨25 in 2025 Read #12 - BELLADONNA by Adalyn Grace ✨ I don’t read much YA these days, but Belladonna is one that had caught my attention and I’m glad I read it because I ended up really enjoying it. I loved the unique premise of the story, particularly that of Signa, this girl who is unable to die even though death seems to be all around her and even when she actively seeks it out by ingesting poison. I also loved that Death is an actual character in the story, a shadowy alluring presence who is never far from Signa’s side. When the story opens, Death has entered Signa’s home and killed her parents and all of their friends during a party. Signa, who is an infant at the time, is the sole survivor. Every family member Signa is then sent to live with also dies, leaving Signa angry and resentful of Death because she just wants somewhere she can call home. Signa fascinated me because she clearly has some kind of powers that protect her from dying as well as a most unique relationship with the character of Death. When Signa moves in with her last living relatives and soon realizes that someone is trying to kill her cousin, she confronts Death because she’s tired of losing her family. She gets Death to agree to help her figure out who is after her cousin and he also agrees to help her understand her powers, which brings Signa closer to Death than she has ever been before and she finds herself drawn to him. I enjoyed that Belladonna was part mystery, part slow-burn paranormal romance with atmospheric Gothic vibes. I thought that kept things interesting and I loved all of the unexpected twists and turns as Signa and Death set out to find the would-be killer, and I also really enjoyed the character growth of Signa as we watch her grow from a vulnerable lonely child to a young woman who is ready to embrace and learn more about her mysterious powers. I wasn’t entirely sure if I would be into a romance where one of the characters was Death but the author sold me on it and I’m looking forward to continuing the series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ❓QOTD - What are you reading this weekend?
    📫 Forever Friday - Hannah Brown Book Mail 📫 📫 Forever Friday - Hannah Brown Book Mail 📫 Thanks so much to @readforeverpub for this fun bookmail. Hannah Brown’s latest book The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain just came out this week and I’ve been seeing some great reviews for it, so I’m excited to have the opportunity to read it, along with Hannah’s debut novel, Mistakes We Never Made. 🩵Synopsis for Mistakes We Never Made: An epic coastal road-trip gives two lifelong rivals a second chance at love in this debut novel from The Bachelorette star and New York Times bestselling author Hannah Brown. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, MISTAKES WE NEVER MADE reminds us it’s never too late to risk falling in love, because being true to your heart is never a mistake. 🩷 Synopsis for The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain: Forgetting Sarah Marshall meets Anyone But You in this novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown. Sybil can’t wait to escape to a tropical paradise, all expenses paid. Well, technically the expenses were paid—last year, when she was supposed to honeymoon in Hawaii with her then-fiancé, Jamie. But she nearly plunges backwards into the infinity pool when she sees Jamie there, too… Desperate to save face in front of the ex who broke her heart at the altar, Sybil accidentally-on-purpose blurts out that she’s vacationing with her boyfriend. But what starts as a harmless lie soon spirals into an ex-fiancé fiasco when Sebastian—the second of Sybil’s three failed engagements—pops by, fresh off a photography gig… Sybil does her best to juggle two ex-fiancés. But it’s becoming clear that her past of broken promises must be reckoned with once and for all—including that first fiancé, Liam, the one she never talks about . . . Is the notorious free-spirit, life-of-the-party, runaway bride Sybil Rain ready to heal from her three past engagements and make room in her heart for a fourth and final chance at love? ❓QOTD - Do you have any fun weekend plans?
    Thanks to @simon.audio for the #gifted audiobook. Thanks to @simon.audio for the #gifted audiobook. #partner (Physical copy was purchased by me) ✨ Review - MY FRIENDS ✨ Author - Fredrik Backman Pub Date - 5/6/25 I always find Fredrik Backman’s books hard to review because I feel like I never have the words to express how special they are. His latest book, My Friends, is an incredibly moving story that is at times heartbreaking, but also filled with warmth and humor. One thing Backman does so well is he always makes me care deeply for his characters, to the extent that I’ll still vividly remember them years after reading one of his books. Louisa is an 18 year old artist whose best friend has recently died. Both were orphans in the foster system, so now Louisa is alone. She meets a man in an alley, not realizing he’s a famous artist. She tells him about her favorite painting, not realizing he’s the artist and the painting is of his best friends. When the artist dies, his friend Ted finds Louisa and gives the painting, the start of a life changing journey for her. Louisa confesses to Ted she’s homeless and he offers to help her sell the painting. As they travel by train to make that happen, Ted and Louisa bond & he tells her the full story of the friends in the painting - Ted, Joar, Ali, and “the artist” - and just how important they were to each other. We see flashbacks of their lives, which were often so hard, they were almost painful to read in some cases. The teens’ friendships were such a beautiful contrast to all of the ugliness that surrounded them & I was so invested in their story, as was Louisa, who prodded Ted to continue every time he paused. I adored the bond between Ted and Louisa. They were so funny and in tune with one another, like Louisa had found her people. If you know me, you know I love the found family trope & with My Friends, I feel like Backman has written the ultimate found family story. As heartbreaking as the story could be at times, there’s a beautiful underlying message about the power of friendship & having people believe in you. Marin Ireland narrates the audiobook & turns in a phenomenal performance that had me feeling all the emotions! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ❓Last 5 star read?
    Thanks to @hambright_pr and @jillshalvis for the # Thanks to @hambright_pr and @jillshalvis for the #gifted review copy! 🩷 Review - THE LOVE FIX 🩷 Author - Jill Shalvis Pub Date - 6/24/25 Lexi Clark hasn’t been back to Sunrise Cove since she was a child. Her mother Daisy’s gambling addiction drove their family apart back then and Lexi moved away with her father. The Lexi we meet when the story opens has since been fired from her job, cheated on, and has put walls up around her heart. Lexi has now reluctantly returned at the request of her stepsister Ashley to fulfill the last request of Daisy, who passed away a year ago. Shortly before her death, Daisy won the lottery and as a way to thank some people who helped her when her life hit rock bottom, she has divided the winnings into six envelopes and wants Lexi and Ashley to deliver them together, one a week until they’re all delivered. I started to get emotional as soon as I realized what Daisy was really trying to do with this seemingly odd request. I loved watching the sisters bond as they carried out Daisy’s wishes and how what starts out as a trip Lexi didn’t really even want to make turns into such a journey of healing for her. In addition to allowing her to bond with her stepsister, coming home allows Lexi to reconnect with Heath, her childhood rival now something more. Their romance is a slow burn, but every interaction between them is just perfect. Heath has grown up to be this charming guy, and whether Lexi wants to admit it or not, she can’t get enough of him, even if he drives her crazy. While he may like to tease her, Heath understands all she has been through and is incredibly patient with her. I loved the two of them together and was really rooting for both he and Ashley to knock all of those walls down around Lexi’s heart so that she could have the relationships she had been denying herself by closing herself off for so many years. The Love Fix is the eighth and final book in Jill Shalvis’ Sunrise Cove series, and while I’m sad to see it end, Shalvis ends the series on a beautiful note, filled with warmth, humor, love, and family. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 ❓QOTD - Jill Shalvis is one of my auto-buy authors. Who are some of yours?
    Thanks to @readforeverpub and @hachetteaudio for t Thanks to @readforeverpub and @hachetteaudio for the #gifted book and ALC! #partner 💜 Review - WRITING MR. WRONG 💜 Author - Kelley Armstrong Pub Date - 6/24/25 Writing Mr. Wrong immediately appealed to me in that it’s both a hockey romance and it’s a book about books. Gemma is a romance author and when we meet her, she is promoting her debut novel, a novel where she has written the male lead to be a jerk, inspired by her first crush in high school, Mason Moretti, a now famous but aging hockey player. When the cover art for the book is revealed, a mean girl from high school who now happens to anchor a talk show offers to help Gemma promote her book. What she doesn’t tell Gemma is that she recognizes Mason and because she clearly hasn’t outgrown her mean girl ways, decides to blindside Gemma on live TV by inviting Mason to her show as well. Mason catches on to what Ms. Mean Girl is up to, thankfully, manages to turn what could have been a nightmare into a public lovefest for himself and Gemma instead, which then leads to their publicists suggesting some fake dating might help both of their careers. I had such a good time with this story! I love fake dating and a second chance romance, and since Gemma and Mason clearly still had feelings of some sort for one another, I was dying to know what happened between them in high school to inspire Gemma to put him in her book the way she did. I also loved that Mason read Gemma’s book since he knew he had inspired the male main character and that he actually learned from it. I already loved Gemma from the start, after learning that she was divorced and now making it on her own as an author, but Mason really stepped it up with some amazing character growth. I just really enjoyed the way Armstrong wrote this relationship. They supported each other as they figured things out. It felt very healthy and had me rooting for them as a couple all the more. Patricia Santomasso & Sean Patrick Hopkins narrate the audiobook and I enjoyed their performances because they really had me feeling the chemistry and the history between Gemma & Mason. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ❓QOTD - Do you enjoy books about books? Have a favorite?
    Thanks for the free book and #gifted ALC @berkleyr Thanks for the free book and #gifted ALC @berkleyromance #BerkleyPartner #Berkley & @prhaudio #prhaudiopartner 💛 Review - FINDERS KEEPERS 💛 Author - Sarah Adler Pub Date - 6/24/25 When we meet Nina, she is going through some things. She has just lost her teaching job, her boyfriend, and she has had to return to her hometown and move back in with her parents. The situation is not ideal, to say the least, especially when Nina realizes that Quentin, her estranged childhood best friend who she also had a crush on, is also back in town, and living next door. After an awkward reunion, Quentin convinces Nina they should revisit a treasure hunt they were in the middle of the last time they saw each other nearly 20 year ago, a treasure hunt that actually ended their friendship. I love a second chance romance and I love it even more when it features childhood best friends. It was really sweet to watch these two reconnect. They clearly have so much history and I enjoyed how they interacted with one another once they got past their initial awkwardness and started to remember all of the things they loved best about each other. The treasure hunt added a fun little adventure to help reestablish that connection between them and I loved all of the banter between them while they were hunting. The romance is a slow burn because there are things that need to be dealt with first. Not only is Nina still dealing with all of those things that drove her back home in the first place, but seeing Quentin again has reopened old wounds and the two of them have to work through what happened in their own past if they want to explore any of the new feelings they’re experiencing towards one another after all these years. Overall, I thought it was a fun read with plenty of humor and heart. When I saw that Mara Wilson was narrating the audiobook, I had to do an immersive read and I thoroughly enjoyed Wilson’s performance. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ❓QOTD - Favorite read so far this month?
    🗝️ Review - DON’T LET HIM IN 🗝️ Autho 🗝️ Review - DON’T LET HIM IN 🗝️ Author - Lisa Jewell Pub Date - 6/24/25 Thanks to @atriabooks for the #gifted e-arc & @simon.audio for the #gifted audiobook. #partner After her husband is tragically killed when a mentally ill man pushes him into the path of an approaching train, Nina receives a condolence gift in the mail from a man named Nick Radcliffe, who says he was a friend of her husband’s. Nick soon starts coming around and eventually he and Nina start dating. Nina’s adult daughter Ash is immediately suspicious of Nick. Something about him just seems too good to be true, and since her mother won’t listen to her, Ash decides to do some digging into Nick’s past on her own. In a neighboring town, Martha is feeling a little suspicious towards the man in her life as well. Martha is a florist who is juggling running her business and raising an infant daughter, alongside Alistair, her usually devoted husband. Lately, however, Alistair has been more absent than he has been present. He always has a plausible excuse, usually something work related, but the longer his behavior goes on, the less Martha trusts him and suspects something more is going on. What I always love about Lisa Jewell’s thrillers is watching how seemingly unrelated threads slowly start to weave themselves together as the plot moves along. In the case of Don’t Let Him In, I was captivated watching to see how the lives of Nina and Martha would slowly start to become connected even though the two women have never met one another, if the men in their lives were as suspicious as they seemed to be, and I was eager to see what Ash would uncover as she started digging into Nick’s past. What I knew I could count on with Lisa Jewell was that it would be a creepy and twisty ride and I was not disappointed! I did an immersive read with the e-arc and ALC and while I enjoyed both formats, I think the full cast narration on the audiobook was fantastic. I did get confused and had to backtrack a couple of times but I think it was me up too late reading because this was such a page turner! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ❓QOTD - What are you reading this week?
    Thanks to @macmillan.audio #MacAudio2025 #macmilla Thanks to @macmillan.audio #MacAudio2025 #macmillanaudio for the gifted ALC. 🎧 Review - TOTAL DREAMBOAT 🎧 Author - Katelyn Doyle Pub Date - 6/24/25 Even though Hope could really use a vacation from the job she hates and from her failed relationship, cruises just aren’t her thing. She has only agreed to come along and keep her influencer bestie company. Felix is a chef who probably needs a vacation as well, but he’s a workaholic and never takes time off. He’s only on the trip because his family gifted him the ticket and he felt too guilty to say no. This book was such a good time! I love the premise of a cruise ship rom-com, but this one especially grabbed my attention since neither Hope nor Felix really even wanted to be on the cruise and they definitely weren’t looking for love. There’s an instant attraction when the two of them meet and an easy banter between them, and their first thought is a ten-day fling with no strings. They have amazing chemistry so even though I’m not usually into insta-love, I could easily get behind a vacation fling. That said, the more time they spent together, the easier it became to root for them to try to turn their fling into something more meaningful because they start to form a deeper, more emotional bond and become more vulnerable with one another. If you enjoy a balance between comedic elements and more emotional ones, this book has that. I also liked the way the story unfolds because it actually starts with a dramatic scene where Hope and Felix have somehow both missed getting back aboard the ship at one of the ports and it has sailed off without them. Things are clearly tense, almost hostile, between them as they must figure out what to do. and then the author takes us back to the beginning to let us see how they got to that point. I just loved that! The audiobook is narrated by Russ Bain and Kelli Tager and I really enjoyed them as Felix and Hope. They really captured the chemistry between the two characters as well as all of that tension when things weren’t going so well between them. It was a great performance. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ❓QOTD - If you could take one now, where would you go?
    ☀️ 🏖️ FLATLAY FRIDAY - SUMMER VIBES 🏖️☀️ Happy Friday, book friends! Since today is not only Friday, but it’s also officially the first day of summer, I thought it would be fun to do a flatlay featuring some of my favorite book covers with summery vibes. I highly recommend all of these books if you’re looking for reads to take to the beach or on vacation. ☀️This Summer Will be Different by Carley Fortune 🏖️Every Summer After by Carley Fortune ☀️One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune 🏖️Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez ☀️It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey 🏖️Luck & Last Resorts by Sarah Grunder Ruiz ☀️The Beach Trap by Ali Brady 🏖️Until Next Summer by Ali Brady ☀️Beach Read by Emily Henry 🏖️Happy Place by Emily Henry ☀️It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan 🏖️Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan ❓QOTD - Have you read any of these? Or what are some of your favorite books to recommend as beach or vacation reads
    Thanks for the free e-arc and #gifted ALC @berkley Thanks for the free e-arc and #gifted ALC @berkleyromance #BerkleyPartner #Berkley & @prhaudio #prhaudiopartner 🎶 Review - SOUNDS LIKE LOVE 🎶 Author - Ashley Poston Pub Date - 6/17/25 (Physical copy purchased by me) Sometimes magical realism can be hit or miss for me in contemporary romance books, but Ashley Poston just gets it right every time, including in her latest novel, Sounds Like Love. Joni Lark is a successful songwriter who has developed a case of writer’s block. She is returning to her North Carolina hometown in hopes that inspiration will strike, but attends a concert the night before she leaves. At the concert, Joni meets and shares an impulsive kiss with Sebastian, a handsome but gruff musician who has issues but still makes an impression on her. Once Joni arrives back in NC, inspiration does not strike. Instead, she finds herself struggling even more now that she can see firsthand how far her mom’s dementia has progressed and when she learns that the family business has been struggling and is closing. Nothing feels right and on top of all that, Joni suddenly finds that she has an unfinished melody stuck in her head, and a man’s voice. No one else can hear the melody or the man’s voice, but he apparently can hear the melody as well. The man is also a musician, and he’s funny, charming, and he has a plan - they should finish writing this song together. He comes to her in NC, and Joni is shocked that it’s actually Sebastian of all people. I loved that the music connected the two of them and allowed them to grow closer because Sebastian and Joni really do have great chemistry, and it brought tears to my eyes when we eventually learn where the melody they were hearing originated. The romance is beautifully written and I loved it, but what really made this a special read for me was the emotional depth of the family relationships. This book just made me feel so much! I had to do an immersive read with the e-arc and ALC once I realized Patti Murin was narrating the audiobook & as always, she did an incredible job & had me feeling all the feels! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 ❓QOTD - Last song you had stuck in your head? AOTD - Pink Pony Club
    🌞 Summer Sun Collab 🌞 Sun-kissed pages & g 🌞 Summer Sun Collab 🌞 Sun-kissed pages & golden hour plots: chapter one of summer starts now. To see our book loving, sunset chasers check out the hashtag #bookishsummerlovers 🌞🌅🧡🌄📖🌄🧡🌅🌞 I love a beautiful sunset so I decided to make a sunset bookstack for this collab. Books featured: 🌄The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 🌞Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca 🌄Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady 🌞The Love Fix by Jill Shalvis 🌄The Love Simulation by Etta Easton 🌞The Bride Test by Helen Hoang 🌄No Ordinary Love by Myah Ariel 🌞Book Lovers by Emily Henry 🌄This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan 🌞Only and Forever by Chloe Liese 🌄The Love Wager by Lynn Painter 🌞The Seven Year Skip by Ashley Poston ❓QOTD - Do you have a preference when it comes to seeing sunrises or sunsets? Or have you read any of these? 🌞🌅🧡🌄📖🌄🧡🌅🌞 This collab & more bookish community fun is hosted by the members of @bookends.friends 🫶🏻 #bookendsfriends #bookishcollab #bookstafriends #booklovers #bookishcommunity #bookishfun
    Thanks to @gallerybooks for the #gifted review cop Thanks to @gallerybooks for the #gifted review copy & to @simon.audio for the #gifted ALC. #partner ✨ Review - THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU ✨ Author - Kristin Harmel Pub Date - 6/17/25 One of the things I love about Kristin Harmel’s WWII historical fiction books is that she highlights the ways ordinary people found ways to resist the Nazis. In her latest novel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, Harmel again focuses on ordinary people resisting the Nazis, but this time it’s a family of jewel thieves who use their stealthy gifts to steal from the Nazis and sympathizers in order to help those in need. I was hooked from the moment we meet Colette as an almost 90-year old woman who is still actively stealing jewels. As her story unfolds in a dual timeline, we learn that Colette grew up in Paris and was taught to steal jewels by her mother, who tells her they are descended from Robin Hood, as a way to help fund the French Resistance during WWII. Their lives come crashing down when the Germans finally catch Colette’s mother. Someone also steals Colette’s younger sister Liliane and a priceless bracelet from their home. Liliane’s body is found floating in the Seine, & the bracelet disappeared, until 70 years later when it turns in a museum exhibit in Boston. As soon as she recognizes the bracelet, Colette is obsessed with finding out who has had it all these years and if they had anything to do with her sister’s death. I really adored Colette. My heart broke for her because of all of the loss she suffered because of the Nazis, but I loved that she’s still so sharp and determined to get justice for her sister. Harmel also surrounds her with a great cast of supporting characters that had a found family vibe, which I liked. In addition to the historical fiction, Colette’s search for her sister’s killer adds an element of mystery, and there’s even a hint of romance. I did an immersive read with the physical copy and the audiobook and was captivated by the narration of Madeleine Maby. She was just perfect as Colette and did a wonderful job overall. Highly recommend if you enjoy audiobooks! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ❓QOTD - What was your last 5 star read?
    Thanks to @dellromance @randomhouse @ballantineboo Thanks to @dellromance @randomhouse @ballantinebooks #partner for the gifted e-arc. 🏒 Review: GLOVES OFF 🏒 Author: Stephanie Archer Pub Date: 6/17/25 I requested Gloves Off for review as soon as I saw that it was an enemies-to-lovers hockey romance that also features a marriage of convenience. Once I got it, I realized it was book 4 in the Vancouver Storm series, which I hadn’t read yet, but thankfully it worked well as a standalone. Gloves Off follows Georgia and Alexei. Alexei is a veteran player on the Vancouver Storm, while Georgia is the team’s doctor. Alexei is trying to secure both his and his parents’ Canadian citizenship so that they won’t have to return to Russia after he retires from the team, and is told by legal counsel that being married would help to expedite his paperwork. At the same time, Georgia needs a husband to meet the archaic terms of her inheritance so that she can keep her research lab open when the hospital cuts her funding. Even though Georgia and Alexei cannot stand each other, they do see where getting married for a while could be of mutual benefit so they decide to go for it. Enemies-to-lovers is my favorite trope, and I adored the way it played out in this book. The sparks were absolutely flying between these two, both in the present and when we got little glimpses back to when they first met each other. Their banter is hilarious, and they have insane chemistry so it’s easy to see that once they both realize their initial impressions of each other are dead wrong, those passionate feelings of hate are going to spin into a completely different kind of passion. I especially enjoyed Alexei’s transformation because he goes from this rude, gruff guy to a marshmallow who worries about Georgia’s safety, cuddles her pet bunnies, & showers her with gifts. Even though Georgia swears she’s never getting married for real, I was rooting for Alexei to win her over. In addition to enjoying Alexei and Georgia’s story, I also loved all of the secondary characters, so I definitely want to circle back and read the first three books to get to know them better. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ❓QOTD - What book are you starting off the week with?
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