Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Please read Jessica Lewis!

Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic by Jessica Lewis

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I’ve loved Jessica Lewis’s books since her debut, Bad Witch Burning, and each new release just further cements how much I love her books and stories. After Nav’s book last year, I knew I needed to and could not wait to get my hands on Hallie’s book, and this was so good!! Hallie feels like she’s a failure and not good enough, especially after a few of her exes have treated her poorly or denigrated her, plus the pressure from her parents to be The […]

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

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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 […]

Is it magic or summer love?

Witchful Thinking by Celestine Martin

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Witchful Thinking introduces us to Freya Grove, a seaside small town in New Jersey. Kindhearted, curvy Black teacher Lucy has lived here her whole life, as have her sisters and cousins. She is a witch and has a little tea-reading business on the side. She is feeling unaccomplished with her high school reunion looming at the end of summer. She unexpectedly runs into her former crush and friend, Alex, who is a very handsome Black merman. His resurgence kicks her overthinking brain into high gear. […]

Sexy contemporary romance

Inevitable Seductions by Christina C. Jones

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Inevitable Seductions fulfills the “favorite” square on CBR17 Bingo. CCJ is one of my favorite authors and this year I’ve given myself the soft goal of reading her entire backlist, which admittedly is a feat when this woman has written nearly 100 books! I’ve mostly been reading via audio, and a good chunk of her catalogue is available via hoopla. Inevitable Seductions is one of her new-to-me books and I’ve made it up to her 2016 releases, and read more than 30 of her books […]

Love the family history, hate the ableism

Spilling the Tea by Brenda Jackson

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I’ve never read Brenda Jackson, though she’s been on my radar as a Black romance author and a well-loved author by many, and this sounded like exactly the kind of book I would enjoy with lots of family history and secrets. I did really enjoy the story and the family elements, and a part of me wants to go through the backlist for more about the Madaris family, but I also feel like I’m not the right audience for these books (and I’m sure a […]

These complete strangers just have NO respect for the fact that they might be your boyfriend in your head these days, sheesh.

Grow Something by Christina C. Jones

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Grow Something is a perfect novella. In a few pages Jones introduces us to two characters, puts them in the context of their families and community, and gets us invested in their relationship. This is a novella in the Equilibrium series, centered around the Mahogany Heights neighborhood, where a Black community and Black businesses thrive. When Hudson’s fiancé texts him to say she won’t be at their wedding, he takes himself to the door of Summer’s produce store and community garden, Grown. Summer has been crushing […]



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