Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Overthinking a romance inspired by Hannah Montana

Love is a War Song by Danica Nava

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This one had a fun premise and overall, was a light and frothy romance but it could have packed more of an emotional wallop. Everything resolved itself a bit too quickly or didn’t go quite deep enough and stayed rather surface level. Nothing about the romantic couple really stood out though it was of course inevitable that they would get together. There was a quite a bit here about dysfunctional relationships with parents but it doesn’t feel like anything was truly resolved in a meaningful […]

Fake engagements, angst and lots of secrets and lies

In a Second by Kate Canterbary

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3.5 stars This was an ARC from the author. I am very grateful, but my opinions are my own. Audrey Saunders has not seen her former boyfriend, Jude Bellessi, since he showed up at the church, only moments before she was due to get married, to ask her to run away with him instead. Because of a whole host of reasons, Audrey couldn’t tell Jude why she was getting married, and why she broke up with him in the first place and moved across the […]

Everyday Jewish Lives Divided by Time

Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World by Jane Ziegelman

Matzah Ball Blues by Jennifer Wilck

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I did not mean to make it a Jewish double feature, but I just happened to read these books around the same time, and it was interesting to see the same traditions discussed in a historical context and then in an average middle-class family from New Jersey. Once There Was a Town by Jane Ziegelman – 3 stars After the Holocaust, since entire shtetls had been reduced to just a handful of survivors, people across continents came together to put together yizkor books to record […]

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. […]

Lost Boy or Femme Fatale – Choose your novel

Funny Guy by Emma Barry

Bold Moves by Emma Barry

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One thing that I appreciate about Emma Barry is that she writes romance novels that feel very real and down to Earth. Yes, both these novels involve characters who have reached career heights most of us never will but the characters and situations feel very real. Sometimes, you want quirky and funny, sometimes you want something that feels like reality with adult characters. Funny Guy is set in New York and a childhood best friends to lovers story. Sam is a comedian who landed the […]

Sunshine and grumpy: Christmas edition

Magically Generated by Jackie Lau

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CBR17 Bingo: Arts (Everett makes detailed sketches before making his amazing snow sculptures) This was an ARC from the author. My opinions are my own. Nora Blackburn no longer believes in love and is super wary of anything that might be a fraud or scam. Her previous relationship was with a man who scammed her out of thousands of dollars, and she’s determined not to be fooled again. Her state of constant hyperawareness and scepticism of everyone and everything also means she isolates herself, and she […]



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