malpal132's reviews
299 reviews

Savor It by Tarah DeWitt

5.0

she DOES NOT MISS. from the first sentence, i was hooked. small-town romance, fisher's a CHEF, sage is a teacher and sunshine personified. i honestly struggle with the small-town trope because it hardly ever feels grounded but i love how she acknowledged the magic and the selfishness baked into its history. the theme of being present and choosing softness and kindness purposefully and not out of weakness was SO 🤌🤌🤌 all the word-play, the jokes, the tension, the steam--it was carefully crafted and i loved every minute. 

Daydream by Hannah Grace

4.5

this was my favorite of the series! henry's soft, quiet, sometimes too-honest personality and the way he interacted with halle's overthinking and compulsive need to fix things was gorg. all the ways they showed up for each other 😭 the recordings and paintings and giving each other what they need instead of what they want. it was lovely. and god, more than a little devastating as someone who's been parentified like halle. 

Play Along by Liz Tomforde

3.75

when she gives him the color-correcting glasses and he sees her auburn hair for the first time?!

goddamn. i enjoyed this! if there's one thing about liz tomforde's mmcs, they're down horrendous. i think i was just wanting...more interesting conversation between kenny and isaiah? idk. i had a good time!

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.

i've seen this marketed as a rom-com and lemme tell you, it's not within spitting distance because the humor is boring. boring enough to make me wonder if the attempt is just my imagination. the prose isn't interesting enough to keep my attention for all the in-between moments either. altogether bland and the kind of stuff i can't bother stomaching for the rest of the book. 

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce

5.0

oh my godddd. i cried for the last 35% of the book. georgia and eli's love felt so big, like it played by its own rules and existed on its own without being a formula most romances follow. like!!! swoony, sweet, gut-wrenching. beyond the paper rings and every other charming detail, the writing was lovely. like floating along a lazy river and every so often you'll see a sentence that makes you pause for a moment to admire its beauty. this wasn't perfect but i loved it. highly recommend. 

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

4.25

this was really solid. i'm going to be thinking about it for a long time. these characters felt so fleshed out, the conflict was compelling, and the tension was great. the way rue's life ran parallel to eli's with parents dying, having to take care of a younger sibling, ice skating/hockey, being scientists. i was sucked in pretty much immediately and the pacing never had be bored. 

Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer

3.75

oh man! the first 30% or so of this was *amazing.* the humor, the tension of her being his dead best friend's ex--it was great. emotionally resonant. i thought it was going to be one of my favorite books. but then it kind of fell off for me around the time

alison snapped at mara and then never apologized?

characters don't have to be perfect but it made her difficult to root for because she was so self-obsessed and there was no self-awareness about it. 

The Wingman by Stephanie Archer

4.75

friends to lovers is arguably my favorite trope and this is such a stand-out example of it. their friendship felt real. their teasing and banter was delightful. hayden explores heretofore unknown levels of down-badness. 'honey' has never worked for me, but this singlehandedly converted me to it. this was hot, funny, sweet, and light-hearted. i love when two people know how to love each other really well and this was that. 

The Spare Room by Laura Starkey

2.0

the prose felt simple in a bad way but i love a quiet cinnamon roll mmc, so that was enjoyable. and i think there's definitely a purpose and validity to writing an fmc with body image issues/a person who struggles not to be a door mat, but i also think the way it's handled is a window into the author's understanding of the complexity of those issues. here's what i saw through this author's window: there's quite a bit of internalized fatphobia. Instead of enriching the fmc's character, it flattened her. also, the wit was lukewarm and not memorable. ultimately i had an okay time but i was left pretty disappointed. 

The Ugly Duchess by Eloisa James

2.75

i mean??? this was fine. i think i was hoping for the writing to dig a little deeper into the emotional aspect/maybe have their characters actually act like childhood friends? idk. it wasn't awful.