Audio Book – World of Bai

Book Review: “Atmosphere” By Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins Reid has been an auto buy author for me ever since I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Most all of her books are 4 stars or more for me and this one was no different! I was planning on waiting to read this one for a little bit longer as I had just finished Carrie Sotto Is Back not too long ago but I am very glad I didn’t wait.

“Bravery is being unafraid of something other people are afraid of. Courage is being afraid, but strong enough to do it anyway.”
Taylor Jenkins Reid, Atmosphere

About The Book

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published Date: June 3rd, 2025

Page Count: 352 Pages

Main Genre: Historical Fiction

GoodReads Rating: 4.35

Format: Audio Book

Synopsis

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easygoing even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant.

Synopsis From GoodReads

Rating

“Happiness is so hard to come by. I don’t understand why anyone would begrudge anyone else for managing to find some of it.”
Taylor Jenkins Reid, Atmosphere

Review

I saw this book all over tiktok and youtube with people sobbing an that sold the book for me. I try and stay clear of emotional books unless I know I am ready to cry. The audiobook really laid into my emotions and had my husband concerned for my wellbeing as I sobbed “Just let people Love who they want to love!”.

The characters were all so well written. I finished this book knowing each character and their motivations very well which I feel has been lacking for me in some recent reads.

The relationship that Joan had with her niece was honestly my favorite part of this book. This storyline was probably the one that I felt the most connected to. I seriously felt for Frances, she was such a sweet young girl stuck in a situation she never should have been in. My heart hurts for this girl!

Getting to dip my toes into space and all the work that goes into being an astronaut was mind blowing. Taylor really went into this book with some knowledge of the topic and it shows. I really appreciate when you can see the research the author does in order to write their books.

The romance in this book gave slow burn vibes in the best way. I really enjoyed exploring the relationship alongside our two characters and seeing the growth that Joan went through personally along the way.

The ending was so great but I was dying for more! My audiobook said 10 minuets left and I was like wait…. that can’t be it… Please, give me more Taylor!

“You make my life worth something. And I can promise you with my entire body that you will never be alone. Every day, you can wake up and go to bed knowing there is someone whose heart is bursting, barely able to contain how much they love you. I know you’re my niece, Frances. But you have always, too, been mine.”
Taylor Jenkins Reid, Atmosphere

Book Review: “Consider Me” By Becka Mack

I found this book at Target and ultimately picked it up because I though that the cover was pretty! I honestly did not know that it was even a hockey book so that was a pleasant surprise for me! I ended up not reading the physical book though and grabbed the audio book as it was free with my Audible membership and I am actually really glad I did this.

“I love you through the perfect moments, and there are so many, but I will always love you through the imperfect ones too.”
Becka Mack, Consider Me

About The Book

Author: Becka Mack

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published Date: March 22nd, 2022

Page Count: 544 Pages

Main Genre: Romance

GoodReads Rating: 3.91

Format: Audio Book

“If your love was all I had for the rest of my life, that would be more than enough.”
Becka Mack, Consider Me

Synopsis

Carter Beckett is the NHL’s best player—both on and off the ice. His career is at its peak, his friends are performing better than ever, and there’s no shortage of women to spend the night with. What more could he want?

Olivia Parker isn’t new to professional hockey players, thanks to her best friend’s boyfriend, but she has no interest in dating one herself—no matter how hot he is. And anyway, she loves working as a teacher and hanging out with her best friend, drama-free. Why would she want to spend her time stroking the ego of an arrogant athlete?

But once Carter meets Olivia, he can’t think of anything else. Too bad for him, Olivia is hellbent on keeping him at arm’s length, with no intention of giving into his charms. Perhaps it’s time for Carter to up his game…after all, nobody said he had to play fair.

Sparks will fly as Carter does whatever it takes for Olivia to consider him.

Synopsis From GoodReads

“Demanding? That’s because I am. I refuse to be without you. Absolutely refuse, because that’s the last place either of us belongs. You’re mine. My best friend and my lover, my only version of forever, and I don’t intend on ever letting you go. My only intention is to legally bind you to me for the rest of our lives.”
Becka Mack, Consider Me

Rating

Vibes Rating

Dynamic Rating

“I’ve made so many mistakes in my life. So many. But you, Ollie? You’re the first thing I’ve done right.”
Becka Mack, Consider Me

Review

I tried to read this book physically at the same time I listened to the audio as I think this usually helps me pay closer attention to the book and helps me remember more details. However, The audio book was different than the physical book. Meaning the audio had added paragraphs and words that weren’t in the physical book or too away what the physical copy had. It was really distracting so I did only audio after a few chapters.

I love a book where the guy falls first but I think I am looking more for a guy who isn’t as cocky and self assured. I wanted to like our male lead and I tried really hard, I would forget that I didn’t care for him at times cause he could be super sweet but my guy… you are so full of yourself. Also his character changed tunes way too quick for my liking, the first scene we had he was literally having relations with a girl who he couldn’t even remember the name of and now all of a sudden you are just ready to be with one woman the rest of your life? It just made it hard to believe his intentions even when in his own mind.

I loved our female lead though! She put this man in his place and I really appreciated that! I also felt like she was real, she had a real job and a poor girl car, I loved that she was relatable even in her insecurities. Her chapters were my favorite ones to listen too, to the point where I almost wish this book wasn’t dual POV which is a wild thing for me to say haha.

I am normally not a third act break up kind of girl and I did have some issues with the way this one went down at the start. However, I liked how they took real space from one another and didn’t act like complete children as we see more often than not. I may not agree with the situation that made the third act break up happen but I also was not surprised by it happening.

I adored the side characters so much that I am afraid my rating is only as high as it is because of them haha. After writing this review I think I should have rated the book lower but its a pain to change it in all the places I keep track of it so oh well..

– End Spoiler –

I Hate how he proposed to this woman! I don’t think anyone should propose to someone at someone else’s wedding even with permission from the bride and groom… I get he wanted it to be flashy and with the people they love the most but come on… You are a Stanley Cup Champion you could do literally anything!

I don’t think I will continue with this series.. I would like to see who Adam ends up with though cause this man deserves the world but I just don’t think I love the series enough to keep going. We shall see.

“One day, some girl is gonna walk into your life and flip your whole world upside down and you’re not gonna know what the fuck to do with yourself except drop to your knees and beg her to never leave.”
Becka Mack, Consider Me

QOTD: What is a series you wish you could have fallen in love with?

“When you show me the type of love you need, I learn how to give it to you.”
Becka Mack, Consider Me

Book Review: “Part of Your World” By Abby Jimenez

I have had this book on my physical TBR since it came out in 2022. I have heard a lot of great things about this book but I just felt that it had to be over hyped but man oh man was I wrong! I really wish I would have read this book sooner.

“Grace costs you nothing”
Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

About The Book

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publisher: Forever Publishing

Published Date: April 19th, 2022

Page count: 400 Pages

Main Genres: Romance

GoodReads Rating: 4.3

Format: Audio

“When you don’t care, everything’s on your terms. They can take it or leave it. It doesn’t matter to you, so ask for whatever the hell you want.”
Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

Synopsis

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

Synopsis from GoodReads

Rating

Review

I am so happy that I listened to this book via Audio. The narration was done by both a female and male voice for the different chapter POV’s. The narrators were probably what made this five stars if I am honest with you. Which is funny because I rarely give audio books 5 stars let alone review them because I struggle to pay attention but again the narrators really pulled me into the book and in the end I was glued.

I really loved both of our main characters. They kept saying how their lives don’t fit together and how the relationship could never work because of it. Yes, they have very different lives but the basic foundation of their lives are very similar which made it easy to see them together. Surprisingly the one thing that I struggled with at the start was just how perfect the male lead was, this man could never do anything wrong but I was oddly ok with this as the book went on.

A lot of the issues that came up in the book felt like they had pretty obvious answers but still took the whole book for them to be resolved. I think this was my one issue with the book but at the same time it was pretty easy to look past and get over. This is mostly because the things holding our main character back in the grand scheme of things had some difficult repercussions.

This book was so much better that I had originally thought it would be and I am very grateful for this. I needed a cute and light romance read to keep me company while Noah was in New York.

“Love follows you. It goes where you go. It doesn’t know about social divides or distance or common sense. It doesn’t even stop when the person you love dies. It does what it wants.”
Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

QOTD: Who is your Auto-buy Romance Author?

“It’s amazing how someone can touch you, even if you only know them for a moment in time. How they can change you, alter you indelibly.”
Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

Book Review: “The Last Thing He Told Me” By Laura Dave

This book has been on my TBR for a few months. I received it from my Book of the Month Subscription a little while back and I have been wanting to read it for awhile but to be honest the cover just didn’t pull me in, so it kept getting pushed back. Finally I saw that it was listed on Scribed to listen to for free and I knew I had to dive in!

“Maybe we are all fools, one way or another, when it comes to seeing the totality of the people who love us—the people we try to love.”
Direct quote

About The Book

Author: Laura Dave

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published Date: May 4th 2021

Page Count: 320 Pages

Main Genres: Mystery, Fiction and Thriller

GoodReads Rating: 3.93

“He never understood that I wasn’t scared of someone leaving me. I was scared that the wrong person would stay.”
Direct Quote

Synopsis

Hannah’s life gets thrown for a loop when she receives a note from her husband saying “Protect Her”. Hannah knows she is meant to protect her step daughter Bailey, who has already had a troubled life and most importantly who hates her. Why can’t her husband just tell this to her face, why send a note? Protect her from what?

When her husbands boss gets arrested and the FBI start knocking on her door and her husband is no where to be found she decides to start taking things into her own hands.

Taking her scared step daughter all the way to Texas, they start to unravel a very unsettling truth. Is her husband really who she thought he was?

“This is the terrible thing about a tragedy. It isn’t with you every minute. You forget it, and then you remember it again. And you see it with a stark quality: This is what is required of you now, just to get along.”
Direct Quote

Rating

“This is the thing about good and evil. They aren’t so far apart—and they often start from the same valiant place of wanting something to be different.”
Direct Quote

Review

My favorite part about this book is that the daughters name is Bailey, I mean that is my name just spelt wrong! All jokes aside, I really did enjoy this book!

I went into this, like most books, blind. I hadn’t read a synopsis or very many detailed reviews. I knew it would be a mystery and I also knew it was on the GoodReads choice awards which really got me interested. Without knowing what I was really getting myself into I think the story really surprised me. It took turn’s that I wasn’t expecting and over all made a pretty great reading experience.

I started off not loving the characters, which frustrated me because I struggled to want to listen to the first maybe 30% of the book. But the book quickly picked up and the relationship between the characters really started to blossom and I ultimately made great connections with them. I think the over all character development between Hannah’s and Bailey’s relationship was the most touching part of the book and what really stuck with me even after reading. With that said, I didn’t really care why Owen was in hiding, I was just rooting for Hannah and Bailey to grow closer together.

I loved the audio book! I own the hard copy but wasn’t tempted to pick it up because the lady who voiced this book did such a wonderful job! I really recommend picking this one up on audio if you are on the fence.

QOTD: What book do you find yourself thinking back to the most?