Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Super cute if you don’t mind imposter syndrome meeting magic dick

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

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Scarlett looks like she has it all: she goes to Stanford as a top collegiate diver and is applying to med school. But underneath it all … She’s a massive ball of anxiety and insecurity She’s off her diving game for reasons that will become clear Family sadness, although her stepmother and dog sound very cool Isolated She hasn’t connected with anyone since her one and only previous boyfriend, who wasn’t into the domination she craves German is dragging down her grade point average She’s […]

A shamelessly happy dog, crucial plants, and yes, a human love story

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

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I hadn’t read Ali Hazelwood in a while, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. First of all, I don’t get forbidden romance that’s like “I can’t date my best friend’s brother.” Why not? But in this case, “I can’t date the finance bro who’s taking the company away from the mentor who believed in me. I am Dr. Rue Siebert, the Ph.D. making great advancements in food technology so I can help make sure people around the world get fed”? YES, PLEASE. A few Rue quotes: […]

Weres and their mates

Mate by Ali Hazelwood

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Shortly after I finished Bride by Ali Hazelwood, the second book in this world: Mate (2025), became available. So, I quickly read that one as well. In many ways, Mate is very similar to Bride in that it is a love story involving weres, humans, and vampyres. We meet Serena at the end of Bride. She is best friends with Bride‘s protagonist, and she’d been kidnapped because she was half-were and half human–something heretofore unheard of in this world. At the very end of Bride, Koen Alexander, the Alpha wolf of the Northwest pack runs into […]

I’m a sucker for a Kindle Challenge

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

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I wouldn’t call myself the greatest lover of romance novels. In fact, I generally don’t enjoy a book without murder / suspense / mystery, unless it’s really well written. This book was fine, and it satisfied the “Love Letters” achievement for the New Year Kindle Challenge. Like I said, I love a good Kindle Challenge. This one specifically required reading a kindle version of a romance book. As this one was a short story, and written by Ali Hazelwood, it was right up my alley. […]

Opposites attract

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

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I realize that Ali Hazelwood does not write perfect books, but I find them highly entertaining and I usually go out of my way to read them. However, I’ve never had much interest in paranormal romance novels with vampires, werewolves, and the like. So, when I first heard that Hazelwood was branching out of her normal STEM romance novels, I figured I would skip them. But then I ran out of things to read, and I decided they were worth a try after all. I […]

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

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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. […]



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