Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Romance and Reality TV

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

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Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of writing partners and best friends, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. I didn’t know this book was by a writing team until after I finished, but it sounds like a fun idea. And then you get to do press with your best friend, which would be way more fun than traveling around the country by yourself. Anyway, they wrote The True Love Experiment (2023), a contemporary romance novel about a reality television dating show. Now, my husband and I have been a […]

(Most of) The Improbable Meet-Cute Collection

Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jiminez

Drop, Cover, and Hold On by Jasmine Guillory

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren

With Any Luck by Ashley Poston

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“Improbable Meet Cute” is a great concept for a short story/not quite a novella collection! The “Amazon Original Stories” branding makes me nervous because it just screams “Do it for the publicity instead of the money because we said so!”,  so I made a point of paying for all five stories to support the authors. In reviewing them, I am tried to decide if they should be appreciated as a delightful, self-contained jewel or as something that leaves you wanting more like a  novella or even […]

Oh Christmas Smut, Oh Christmas Smut, You Make The Holidays Bearable

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone

A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone

Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey

Christmas on the Thirteenth Floor by Lee Jacquot

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

Kidnapped by the Krampus by Emily Shore

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Here’s a collection of Christmas Romances I read over the Holiday Season: A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone A porn producer wants to branch out and make some movies with the wholesome streaming company, the Hope Channel (think Hallmark meets Netflix), but the majority of the cast and crew are injured at a Burning Man-type festival. He hurriedly sends the director a folder of headshots but doesn’t realize he has sent her the headshots of his Adult Film stars. The […]

Wish it was something funner

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

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Lily Wilder is the daughter of a notorious treasure hunter. But when Duke Wilder died he left her little more than a notebook full of clues and riddles that she has ignored for the last decade. She’s making a living out in the desert, giving guided tours to city folk looking for a bit of adventure, when an old flame walks back into her life. Leo Grady was her big love ten years ago, but circumstances separated them and Lily is still heartbroken about it. […]

“I create investment algorithms. I’m usually in bed by nine. In what situation would I have been arrested and restrained with zip ties?”

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

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Plot: Lily Wilder is miserable. Her dad, a famous archeologist and deadbeat dad, sold off the family farm that was her life plan to manage, then promptly died. So for the last decade, she’s been making ends meet running a tour company based on, to her endless chagrin, his supposed claims to have found and hidden an enormous fortune in the deserts of Utah. The plan is to buy back the farm one day, but that’s more of a dream than the goal at the […]

“But maybe let’s set the low bar of just not dying”

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

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I’ve read and liked several Christina Lauren novels before, and this second-chance romance featuring a treasure hunt, all set in the wilds of Utah, sounded like a perfect summer read. While it does live up to some of those expectations, there was one major con that didn’t work for me at all. “I guess I’m looking for adventure. My day-to-day life is pretty routine.” He turned his baseball cap over in his hands and seemed to note that the mood had grown solemn. “But maybe […]



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