No Axe to Grind by Annie Carlisle

Rating:

4 Stars

Themes:

Romance, Small Town, Dual POV, Grumpy/Sunshine

Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I know Carlisle can do small town romances well but this one was a step up with the stuck in the cabin too. I loved the dogs and how well their characters shone through and it added to the snowy cabin days and the feeling of homeliness (despite being so far from Tessa’s home). I also really liked Tessa’s character with the clumsiness and jokes about romcoms, it made her feel so much like the kind of person I often am and know so many of. I did like Gage and the parts from his POV to help understand him more and I was rooting for them as a couple by the end too.

Favourite Quote:

“Because love doesn't come around every day. And when it does when it looks like a grumpy mountain man with kind eyes and chainsaw-carved furniture and dogs that fall in love with you instantly-you don't walk away.

You fight.

And this time, I'm going to fight.”

With thanks to Booksirens for my advanced digital copy of this book.

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

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Shame-Sex Attraction by Lucas Wilson

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is definitely a difficult read and it took me quite a while to get through it for that very reason. It is split up into 17 different peoples experiences with a foreword and afterword. It’s definitely an important read for many as these practices are still legal in many countries, including my own, and without knowledge of the damage of the practices many may not join in the protests or sign the petitions to try to get laws in place. As a member of the community myself I found some of these stories such as the ‘Sniffing the Gay Away’ and ‘Convert’ especially difficult to read and reminded me just how lucky I was to have such a supportive and loving community around me. I appreciated that the afterword highlighted the limitations of the collection such as having little to no religious, geographical or racial diversity but that they did try to ga...

Porn is Not Sex Ed! by Jessica Melendez

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Young Adult Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. In the age of lessening sex education this book could be a great tool to help bridge the gap. I appreciate the talk to an adult bits that can encourage children to start to have conversations that are important but they often think are cringy. The note to trusted adults bit at the end is great too and there’s quite a few useful activities to help the messages really sink in. Some of the points here such as fetishisation and body image are really important ones that I never learned that young (which could be the reason I had such poor body image as a teen) and for the most part the book talks to kids on their level although some areas may feel a little immaturely worded for older teens. With thanks to Hachette UK and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy of this book.

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