Disclaimer – I did some beta reading on this book before release.
I found this to be an enjoyable read and a great way to pass a couple of hours. It’s not very long and it acted as a great break for other books I was reading at the time.
Brogan is strong in her professional life, moving to Scotland to be the Headteacher at a school. Her family situation means she spends a lot of time by herself but she likes keeping people at a distance since her latest breakup.
Unexpectedly she finds she has feelings for Libby after a chance encounter with her landlords dog. Libby isn’t looking for casual – she’s looking for the one.
I enjoyed the exploration of their opposite characters and their back and forth as to their compatibility and long-term goals. As expected in this genre Brogan’s ex makes an appearance but there is a scene in a coffee shop that just made me love Libby’s best friend!
All in all it’s a nice easy read and I’d recommend to any wlw romance fans.
I received an e-ARC directly from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This is a great book about the relationships between a group of queer friends and acquaintances in Seattle. Taking place over a number of months, the pace of the book is different to the books I’ve been reading recently, but I really enjoyed having the time to spend with the characters in their day to day lives.
As the title indicates, all the characters in the book have become used to short term relationships for one reason or another. We spend time with four main characters, Kate, Liza, Nathan and Emily.
Kate is perhaps the most used to short term romantic relationships. After the breakdown of her marriage she’s never quite met the right one and has developed a reputation for her short term outlook. Kate is the character that ties everyone in the book together and I really liked her narrative and journey.
Liza is a triathlete and wedding photographer. She’s Kate’s roommate and tends to find herself in shorter term relationships due to her driven attitude to succeed with her triathlons. She’s fallen for someone but isn’t sure to how to broach it with them.
Emily broke up with her husband five years ago, but hasn’t had any success finding a new long-term partner. She’s suffering from a case of unrequited love, watching her son grow older and trying to navigate the Seattle scene, looking for her own long-term partner.
Nathan transitioned three years ago. He fronts a successful local band looking to make it bigger but is lost in his personal life. He’s still very much involved in the lesbian community and isn’t sure how to take the plunge with the person he wants.
For me the cast of characters allows for a very grown up view of why people find each other. Rose explores romance, sex, family, friendships, guilt and grief in an in-depth manner whilst succeeding in not languishing unnecessarily in emotions. This keeps the book moving. The changing viewpoints throughout the narrative helps with this and keeps the book fresh.
It’s definitely more on the literary side and isn’t a quick read, but I would recommend to any queer fiction fans.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a really sweet novella about a summer camp for girls with a secret LGBTQ friendly side.
I liked the main character Eleanor, her ability to bring people together and her almost grown up before her time attitude. Yvette was interesting in that despite the fact she is introduced early and it’s clear Eleanor likes her, her quiet nature means she probably doesn’t speak as much as some of the secondary characters – keeping her enigma persona.
I’m sure writing a book that incorporates lots of different characters in this kind of environment is a big challenge so I’m really glad to be able to say that Summers does this really well. The incorporation of the cabin groups and the team events opens up lots of opportunities for different interactions.
I also really liked that the book explored all the things that teenagers might be worried about, from family, to getting into College, to how to pay for College, whilst still keeping a positive tone to the narrative. There’s a lot of humour amongst the more serious topics too.
When Eleanor and Yvette do get together, I loved that it didn’t suddenly change who they were, they both continued to undertake the relationship on their terms. The book ends in such a way that this could easily start a series, either about Eleanor and Yvette in the future – should the happy for now turn into happily ever after – or into a series about the camp itself.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I’m a big fan of Oakley’s so I’m really glad I managed to finally carve out the time to read this new one. It was exactly what I needed and comes in at a solid 4.5 stars. The story starts with an epilogue where we meet Remi and Julia at college in Colorado. Their relationship is passionate and they have the belief they’re going to be together forever. Disaster strikes and their relationship is over just as quickly as it began.
We cut to ten years later, Remi is now an executive for an airline and Julia an interior designer. They’re again thrown together unexpectedly, giving them the opportunity to re-evaluate everything they thought they knew.
I loved the premise of this book. I was sceptical at first when it started with an epilogue if I’m honest, but it sets the scene really well and you start with presumptions of how you’re going to feel about the MCs that are then challenged along the way.
The intrigue that cuts through the story is done well. It sits there in the background for quite a while, making you want answers, and then provides interesting twists at just the right moments in the narrative.
The romance between Julia and Remi is believable – and whilst this does go a little bit from lovers to enemies and then instant lovers again, you can understand why. Once they move back into lovers territory the communication between them is strong and I like how they are written so as to not be making the same mistakes of the past all over again.
I enjoyed the secondary characters in the storyline and it would be nice if some of these were revisited in future instalments if this was to be made into a series. The most important secondary character for me was Stormy the dog and I enjoyed the way she was woven into the narrative.
I also really liked that this was another book I’ve read recently that didn’t throw in a major relationship blow up at about the 80% mark. The angst and intrigue in this storyline is provided by others and it focusses on how Remi and Julia deal with this as a couple rather than breaking them up again.
I’d definitely recommend this as a nice read for any romance fans – it’s currently available on KU.
I like this sweet small town romance series and this second instalment was a good way to pass a couple of hours. I think I preferred the first instalment – The Girlfriend Sweater – slightly more, but this was still an enjoyable quick read that is a solid three and a half stars.
Becca is the owner of the only bookshop in St. Brigid. She prefers to spend her time with a good book and her cats Bear and Silver. Selma is a visiting literature lecturer at St. Brigid’s College for the summer. She’s looking to escape from Chicago and the tenure track.
The storyline is character driven and I liked both MCs. Selma gives off a carefree vibe, but actually deep down is troubled with the direction her life has taken. Becca has the more serious, quiet vibe initially, but has a more relaxed attitude to some things. I liked the secondary small town characters, especially Becca’s grandmother.
The angst in this narrative is driven by things from the past and not from the couple’s relationship itself, which made for a nice change. I thought the ending suited the couple and I’m looking forward to any future instalments.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
LGBTQ+ Reader 