Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search this Site

About Emmalita

CBR 5
CBR 6
CBR 7
CBR 8
CBR 9
CBR10 participant
CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR14 Participant
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR18 Participant
CBR18 Levels
CBR18 Comments

Lives in Austin, Texas. She/her. Loves reading books, writing about books and talking about books. On the CBR Board. May send you an email. Thinking about new challenges. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Emmalita's Quick Questions interview.)

Emmalita's Reviews:

Don’t forget to let yourself live your life. You deserve it just as much as anyone else.

The Love Feud by Janine Amesta

by Leave a Comment

I’ve been looking forward to The Love Feud for months, and it lived up to my expectations. Hailey and Ry are sweet and messy. Their fake feud to draw attention to the hot air balloon festival is a delightfully flimsy excuse to spend time together. Robert Moreno’s death upended the lives of each of his three daughters. If you haven’t read Love at First Flight and The Wedding Con yet, now is a good time. In the immediate aftermath, David Selene, the owner of a […]

I think a woman should inspire a modicum of terror. It is her right.

A Lady for All Seasons by TJ Alexander

by 2 Comments

A Lady for All Seasons reminded me of a Shakespeare comedy – fluid genders, secret identities, couples trying to arrange themselves rather than be arranged, and at least a few fools. Be warned, Lord Byron makes multiple appearances. We met Lady Verbena and Éttienne Charbonneau in A Gentleman’s Gentleman. When Christopher (Lord Eden) and James left the country to avoid the requirement that Christopher marry to retain his inheritance, he transferred ownership of his London house to Éttienne. Now a year later, Verbena needs a […]

“My mom made it pretty clear that ballet was going to be my thing, whether I liked it or not.” I shrug. “I guess it’s good I liked it.”

Toe to Toe by Falon Ballard

by 5 Comments

Before I started reading my advance reader copy of Toe to Toe, a passionate negative review caught my eye. There have been a few times when I’ve been the reviewer deeply offended by something in a book, so I did read with it in mind. In the end, I felt like the reviewer’s complaint is a legitimate criticism, but that the story Falon Ballard is telling, in all its messiness, is worth telling. Most of my knowledge of ballet comes from pop culture with the […]

Grief and romance

The Hope Once Lost by Ambar Cordova

by 3 Comments

Ambar Cordova’s The Hope Once Lost is an angsty, grief fueled romance, and yet I found myself smiling many times. I really do love romances that dive into grief. Some of the best romances start with the way grief changes us. The Hope Once Lost is part of Cordova’s Baker Oaks series. Technically, it can be read as a stand alone, but I spent too much time trying to keep characters straight to recommend it. After an aborted attempt to visit the father who abandoned […]

Fake Flame revisited with my ears

Fake Flame by Adele Buck

by Leave a Comment

I read and reviewed Adele Buck’s Fake Flame in April, 2024. When I saw an advance listener copy narrated by Moniqua Plante available on NetGalley I smashed the request button. I love being able to revisit books as audiobooks because I will notice different things, and plot points will hit differently in different formats. Moniqua Plante’s narration is warm and friendly, perfect for this lowish stakes, thoroughly adult romance. My favorite thing about Fake Flame, in any format, is that it’s romance for grownups. Eva […]

Not a recommendation

His Vengeful Tradwife by Katie Landry

by Leave a Comment

Very late at night, I got peer pressured into reading His Vengeful Tradwife by Katie Landry. It was weird and I was very “what did I just read?” LB did me a great kindness and picked up His Vengeful Tradwife and sent me their reactions as they read. It really helped me process how I felt about this book. Things started well, though LB noted that this book is aggressively white and heteronormative. Maverick is an idiot and Tallulah is clearly smarter and more competent. […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo