Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

New Year’s Yearning and Spice

This Time, Next Year by Ruby Barrett

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I’ve seen some discussions in the romance community that claim high heat/open door romances lack yearning. This is Puritan nonsense. I could point to hundreds of examples of books that have both. Ruby Barrett’s New Year’s Eve focused novella, This Time, Next Year is one. Nora and Finn belong to a friend group that celebrate NYE together every year. On one New Year’s Eve, Nora and Finn share a kiss. Every New Year’s Eve after, Nora is in a quandary, will she kiss Finn? Will […]

“You ready to go be friendly?” He says “friendly” like someone might say “roasted” or “impaled.”

The Friendship Study by Ruby Barrett

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The Friendship Study was a lovely read that made some choices near the end that I didn’t love. The first thing that I loved about this book is the cover. It’s gorgeous and really conveys the feeling of the book. I don’t usually care much about covers, but this one is an A+. In 2021 I felt like all the books I was reading were about grief. This year the theme has been loneliness. Grief is still a big factor in so many books, but […]

You say tomato, I say you like her.

The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett

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Amy is emotionally constipated and bossy. Sophie dives into love too quickly and is still coming to terms with being bi. Amy hired Sophie to be head chef when she opened her restaurant Amy & May’s in Boston. She had watched Sophie on a reality cooking competition show called Pop-Up Kitchen. Sophie didn’t win, but she did wind up with the producer, Paul, as a fiancé and she was a fan favorite. But things aren’t going well. Amy & May’s is struggling financially and Sophie […]



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