So in the last week of the year, I was determined to read some more books and get the Goodreads 2023 Goal number higher. I was lucky to have chosen some really entertaining books in the month of December, and some of them just took me longer to consume than others. Some books I gobbled up in a couple days, while others took weeks…mostly because I didn’t want them to end (Manacled 👀💔💥⚡🪄).
Anyway, without further ado, here are the 4 books I finished in the last week of 2023, in order of completion. PLEASE NOTE: SPOILERS ABOUND!!!
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📝 Description: Artist Sloan Monroe is grieving the loss of her fiancé. Rarely exiting their home she randomly acquires a trouble-making pup. In an attempt to find her new friend, Tucker’s owner, she makes a new friend, musician Jason. He’s on tour in Australia and can’t get his dog immediately, so they strike a deal, send flirty texts back and forth and wonder what might happen once Jason comes home.
📚Genre: Romance
💞 Feels: Their love story was a nice slow build. I enjoyed the build up to them getting together, but the inevitable conflict and reconciliation felt rushed to me. Now was I crying when they reunited? Yes, I was – so that’s a pretty good positive. I was so happy that the author didn’t leave us waiting for them to get back together…but I just didn’t believe in the breakup, maybe ‘cause I knew they’d come back together. The crying definitely got the book the 4th star 💫
✅ Spinoff novella nomination: Since this book is part of a series…I did expect a book about Sloan’s fiance’s sister…but maybe that was presumptuous after seeing the “Life’s Too Short” title for the third book in the series. I just wanted to see more of how their family coped with losing him, since they effectively stopped talking to Sloan after his death.
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📝 Description: Voldemort won and Harry Potter is dead. Voldemort has enacted a repopulation effort and Hermione Granger is enslaved surrogate #1. She’s been assigned to the High Reeve, who has been ordered to retrieve all of the Order’s secrets locked away in Hermione’s mind.
📚Genre: Romantasy Fan Fiction
💞 Feels: This book was surprising, I had no idea what I was in for when I downloaded it to my Kindle. I just knew I hadn’t been able to escape it on BookTok so I was very curious to see what all the fuss was about.
Alternate reality Harry Potter world? What if Voldemort had won?! Draco and Hermione fall in love?!?! I gotta see this, lol. So the handmaids tale of it all was upsetting, because I don’t want anyone hurting our sweet smart aleck Hermione. I found myself getting used to it, and cheering whenever she found a workaround, as well as, trying to figure out the mystery–because the flashbacks were giving me hope. Now do I like time jumps back and forth? No, I don’t. I find them disorienting and I want the author to get on with it already and show me what’s up. Now, once we were solidly in the past–then of course I found myself missing the present. It’s a losing battle with me 🫠. I got used to being in the past, eventually, and finally finding out what was going on–so good.
Basically, add another problematic fictional boyfriend to my list. Draco, who knew?! Hermione, still the best.
✅ Spinoff novella nomination: No nomination, I just want to read about Hermione and Draco as empty nesters 😍
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MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios
📝 Description: History of Marvel Entertainment from fledgling toymaker to dominant Hollywood player and pop culture juggernaut. Find out about the dishy and spectacular achievements of Marvel Studios.
📚Genre: Film
💞 Feels: This was hard to read as straightforward text on the page. I think I’m more used to listening to Joanna Robinson talk on her podcasts, so I had Alexa read the book to me instead. Went much better once I switched mediums. Then I was just listening to Hollywood gossip; and I love gossip.
With what’s currently happening in the world of Marvel, the history about Marvel Studios really sheds light on the problems that are happening now. But I have faith they’ll turn it around.
Really impressed with all of the info the authors were able to suss out and divulge in the book. Why Spiderman is rebooted so often; how Kevin Feige got to be the man at the top; and just what the stars did on set between takes.
✅ Spinoff novella nomination: n/a
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📝 Description: Chemist Elizabeth Zott, navigates the challenges of the male-dominated 1960s scientific world, until Calvin Evans sees her true worth. Life takes unexpected turns, leading Elizabeth to single motherhood and a surprising career in cooking, where she challenges norms and sparks change.
📚Genre: Historical Fiction
💞 Feels: I will admit that this was my second attempt at reading this book. I think the first time I tried, 6 months ago, the time jump was frustrating to me. I wanted to know how she got to being the star of a beloved cooking show sooner than later–and didn’t realize that wasn’t really the story.
So I gave it another try, got further into the book. And fully ensconced in the past of Elizabeth and Calvin and we were off! Loved their dynamic, and disliked everyone around them that messed with them. Six thirty was the best addition, of course. Who doesn’t love a dog’s thoughts and opinions on what’s going on in the story.
✅ Spinoff novella nomination: Calvin’s friend (the priest? vicar? preacher? I’ve forgotten 😕) or Calvin’s mother or Elizabeth’s mother, living it up in another country with a whole new family!!!
Coming up in the next couple weeks, I’ll review what I’ve read so far in January (including my first ARC!!) and update the Shop Diary with the latest business developments. Happy reading, wallflowers!