Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Contemporary romance round up – summer reads

Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

When Javi Dumped Mari by Mia Sosa

December 29, 2025 by Jen K 2 Comments

Both Kennedy Ryan and Alexis Daria released the final novels in their latest romance trilogies in May of this year. I enjoyed both but they focused on very different types of characters (oddly enough, it was a flip between the characters they focused on in the second novel – so for Primas of Power, we get the cousin that always did the right thing and played by the rules in book 3 while Skyland explored that character in book 2, and Skyland focuses on the […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance Tagged With: Alexis Daria, Black romance, Contemporary Romance, Kennedy Ryan, latina author, Mia Sosa, Primas of Power, Skyland

Jen K's CBR17 Review No:148 · Genres: Fiction, Romance · Tags: Alexis Daria, Black romance, Contemporary Romance, Kennedy Ryan, latina author, Mia Sosa, Primas of Power, Skyland ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments
All By My Elf

I Bought into Amazon’s Author Exploitation Again

Under the Mistletoe: Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

Under the Mistletoe: Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey

Under the Mistletoe: All by My Elf by Olivia Dade

Under the Mistletoe: Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur

Under the Mistletoe: Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria

November 30, 2025 by Mrs. Julien Leave a Comment

I mean, I assume it’s exploitive. It is Amazon. Having had some success with the Improbable Meet Cute collection for Valentines  Day, and, as someone who absolutely loves a Christmas novella, I paid for one (the Ali Hazelwood) and borrowed the other four of these Under the Mistletoe “get to know a romance author with a  free read” stories. I imagine Amazon is doing the same thing as telling someone to work for free for the exposure. I hope they were compensated in some way. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Fiction Tagged With: Alexandria Bellefleur, Alexis Daria, Ali Hazelwood, Christmas novella, Christmas romance, Contemporary Romance, M/F romance, novella, Olivia Dade, romance novella, Tessa Bailey

Mrs. Julien's CBR17 Review No:5 · Genres: Featured, Fiction · Tags: Alexandria Bellefleur, Alexis Daria, Ali Hazelwood, Christmas novella, Christmas romance, Contemporary Romance, M/F romance, novella, Olivia Dade, romance novella, Tessa Bailey ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

You can’t solve every problem by throwing money at it

Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

July 2, 2025 by Malin 2 Comments

4.5 stars CBR17 Pie Chart Challenge: Diversity   Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Ava is nursing her hurt feelings over the dissolution of her marriage in a hotel bar, when a handsome man approaches and offers to make her a better drink than the one she currently has (she made a face when sipping it). The man clearly has bartending experience, and after a brief conversation, Ava discovers that the charming man in fact owns the […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance Tagged With: Alexis Daria, Along Came Amor, ARC, cbr17, CBR17 Pie Chart Challenge, Contemporary Romance, diversity, emotional abuse, family, friendship, Latinx, Malin, NetGalley, Primas of Power

Malin's CBR17 Review No:30 · Genres: Fiction, Romance · Tags: Alexis Daria, Along Came Amor, ARC, cbr17, CBR17 Pie Chart Challenge, Contemporary Romance, diversity, emotional abuse, family, friendship, Latinx, Malin, NetGalley, Primas of Power ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

“You mean because you’re built like the Abominable Snowman and I’m the size of the Sugar Plum Fairy?”

Cruel Winter With You by Ali Hazelwood

Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey

All By My Elf by Olivia Dade

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur

Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria

November 21, 2024 by faintingviolet 6 Comments

Amazon has put out a holiday collection of five stories that is free to Prime members, and it grabbed my attention when Olivia Dade publicized that she had a story in the collection (Ali Hazelwood, Tessa Bailey, Alexandria Bellefleur, and Alexis Daria are the other authors). I requested an ARC and was granted it, so here we are with me reading a holiday collection earlier than I normally would because we all deserve nice things when the world feels like it is crashing down. Cruel […]

Filed Under: Romance, Short Stories Tagged With: Alexandria Bellefleur, Alexis Daria, Ali Hazelwood, All by My Elf, ARC, Cruel Winter With You, Merriment and Mayhem, Merry Ever After, NetGalley, Olivia Dade, Only Santas in the Building, romance collection, Tessa Bailey, Under the Misteltoe Collection

faintingviolet's CBR16 Review No:53 · Genres: Romance, Short Stories · Tags: Alexandria Bellefleur, Alexis Daria, Ali Hazelwood, All by My Elf, ARC, Cruel Winter With You, Merriment and Mayhem, Merry Ever After, NetGalley, Olivia Dade, Only Santas in the Building, romance collection, Tessa Bailey, Under the Misteltoe Collection ·
Rating:
· 6 Comments

Elves, Santas & Mayhem

All by My Elf by Olivia Dade

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur

Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria

November 12, 2024 by Emmalita Leave a Comment

For someone who is pretty meh about the winter holidays, I sure do love to read holiday romances. They have to be a certain kind of holiday romance though. No the magic of the season made me love life again stories. In these three Christmas shorts, Christmas festivities bring the characters together, but the holiday isn’t the reason they fall in love. Olivia Dade’s All by My Elf is a classic Dade novella. It’s got sweetness, spice, a realistic portrayal of adjunct faculty life, double […]

Filed Under: Romance Tagged With: Alexandria Bellefleur, Alexis Daria, All by My Elf, Amazon shorts, Merriment and Mayhem, Olivia Dade, Only Santas in the Building

Emmalita's CBR16 Review No:69 · Genres: Romance · Tags: Alexandria Bellefleur, Alexis Daria, All by My Elf, Amazon shorts, Merriment and Mayhem, Olivia Dade, Only Santas in the Building ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

I wish this book had accompanying videos with the various dance routines

Take the Lead by Alexis Daria

September 1, 2024 by Malin Leave a Comment

3.5 stars Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Reality TV CBR16 Bingo: Disco (so much dancing in this book) Gina Morales has been a dancer for four seasons of the popular reality dancing show The Dance Off, but she’s never even made it to the finals. She dreams of stardom but doesn’t like the behind-the-scenes machinations on the show. She may be a beautiful Latina woman, but refuses to be roped into any kind of ‘Showmance’. She wants to be taken seriously as a dancer and choreographer. […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fiction, Romance Tagged With: Alexis Daria, audiobook, CBR16, cbr16bingo, Contemporary Romance, Dance Off, disco, Malin, reality TV, Smart Bitches, Take the Lead

Malin's CBR16 Review No:54 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fiction, Romance · Tags: Alexis Daria, audiobook, CBR16, cbr16bingo, Contemporary Romance, Dance Off, disco, Malin, reality TV, Smart Bitches, Take the Lead ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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