Romance – Page 3 – World of Bai

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

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“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: “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” By Sangu Mandanna

This has been a very talk about book ever since it was released a few years ago. I think I personally have owned this book for at least a year with full intentions to get to it “soon”. Well, I finally made time for it thanks to an unused Audible credit and no other books being on the top of my mind. I am honestly surprised it took me this long to read but I do think it is a bit overhyped…

“We’re part of the earth below us and the sky above us. Our veins echo the patterns of rivers and roots. There’s sunlight and moonlight in our bones.”
Sangu Mandanna, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

About The Book

Author: Sangu Mandanna

Publisher: Berkley

Published Date: August 23rd, 2022

Page Count: 318 Pages

Main Genre: Magical Realism

GoodReads Rating: 4.07

Format: Audio Book

Synopsis

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….

Synopsis From GoodReads

“Trust is earned.”
“It is. But that’s only possible if someone’s willing to give you a chance.”
Sangu Mandanna, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Rating

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“It’s a leap of faith to love people and let yourself be loved. It’s closing your eyes, stepping off a ledge into nothing, and trusting that you’ll fly rather than fall. I can’t step off the ledge for you. It’s something only you can do.”
Sangu Mandanna, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Review

I listened to this book via audio and I do think that I would have liked the book more if I had physically read it. The narrator was good just not for me.

I think this book was written really well! It was beyond cozy and kept me entertained which I really hope for when I read an audio book. In fact I almost finished this book in one whole sitting which is really rare for me and audio books.

I think I may have an unpopular opinion about this book but I kind of wish it was more young adult or even middle grade. I would have really enjoyed this book if we saw it from the girls perspectives or if we didn’t have the romantic connection between out FMC and MMC. The romance took a back seat in this book which I appreciated but honestly I felt like it just wasn’t needed. Either I blocked most of the romance out or their was so little of it that there was really no point in having it there? I think what I am trying to get at is that it could have been a cute found family story without the romance sub plot.

I think the character growth was really prevalent in this book and I think that was what I appreciated the most from it. You saw pretty much every character that was mentioned throughout the story change and grow which was done in a cozy way that left you feeling so happy and relieved for everyone involved.

I thought the magic system was easy to follow and grasp which is what I would expect from a cozy fantasy book. However, I always do struggle with magic realism books as I am trying to imagine this happening in our world and finding a lot of things that come up just so unrealistic. This is for sure a me problem as you are supposed to suspend your disbelief for these books anyways.

Overall, I do recommend this book if you are wanting a quick and cozy read in between all of your romantasy books as a much needed pallet cleanser.

“It’s not always enough to go looking for the place we belong. Sometimes we need to make that place.”
Sangu Mandanna, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

QOTD: DO you have a favorite book about Magic Realism?

“Niceness is all about what we do when other people are looking. Kindness, on the other hand, runs deep. Kindness is what happens when no one’s looking.”
Sangu Mandanna, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Book Review: “The Seven Year Slip” By Ashley Poston

This is a book that I was on the edge of reading for awhile now. I am so sad it took me this long to read though! I had tried a book by this author before that I DNF’d so I wasn’t positive I would enjoy this and I was afraid this book was going to be overhyped but I was so wrong!

“Sometimes the people you love don’t leave you with goodbyes—they just leave.”
Ashley Poston, The Seven Year Slip

About The Book

Author: Ashley Poston

Publisher: Berkley

Published Date: June 27th, 2023

Page Count: 336 Pages

Main Genre: Romance

GoodReads Rating: 4.19

Format: Audio

“Because the things that mattered most never really left. The love stays. The love always stays, and so do we.”
Ashley Poston, The Seven Year Slip

Synopsis

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.

Synopsis From GoodReads

“There was something just so reassuring about books. They had beginnings and middles and ends, and if you didn’t like a part, you could skip to the next chapter. If someone died, you could stop on the last page before, and they’d live on forever. Happy endings were definite, evils defeated, and the good lasted forever.”
Ashley Poston, The Seven Year Slip

Rating

Vibes Rating

Dynamic Rating

Review

I normally don’t like to post reviews about Audio Books that I read just because my ADHD makes it really hard to pay attention to the details when I don’t have the words physically for me to read but something was really different with this one! I think the narrator was perfect, she kept me engaged and her voice was honestly kind of soothing. I say this with every Audio Book I read, the Narrator makes or breaks the book for me! I will be looking for more books that share this narrator moving forward!

I am not usually someone who likes a time travel trope as it is really easy for plot holes to appear and the logistics rarely make sense. This is exactly why this book got a 3.5 dynamic rating. Going back in the past is typically known to have negative consequences on the future but this book didn’t really seem to touch upon that “issue” at all. In fact, I think that our main male character really got the short end of the stick with this story.. He fell in love with a girl who was 7 years in the future and he knew and had to wait 7 years to do anything about it? That is a rough way to live.. Especially because he did run into her immediately after they left and in the restaurant and she didn’t even know who he was.. One wrong step could have changed their future and somehow in 7 years nothing truly changed.

However, if we don’t think too much about the logistics and just go purely off of vibes it was a 4.5 star rating. I really enjoyed this romance and if it was me I would struggle to go back to real life and just stay with the man I was falling in love with. I really liked how our main characters got to fall in love with each other twice, each one changing over the course of time whether it was 7 years or just a few months they each grew and learned more about themselves individually and one another.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book! The male lead was swoon worthy and definitely book boyfriend material, I mean who wouldn’t love a chef? Let me know if you have already read this or if you picked it up based on my recommendation!

“That was love, wasn’t it? It wasn’t just a quick drop — it was falling, over and over again, for your person. It was falling as they became new people. It was learning how to exist with every new breath. It was uncertain and it was undeniably hard, and it wasn’t something you could plan for.”
Ashley Poston, The Seven Year Slip

QOTD: Have you read a time travel book?

“I didn’t need to be fixed. I just needed…to be reminded that I was human.”
Ashley Poston, The Seven Year Slip

Book Review: Zodiac Academy: The Awakening By Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

I had no desire to start this series. I had mostly heard negative things regarding this series and if I am being honest the covers were just not pulling me in. I decided to pick this first book up only because one of my favorite book sellers in Utah, Lovebound Library, Posted that their owner picked it up and really enjoyed it. I was influenced by her recommendation and honestly, I am so glad that I was! I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would have.

“The most important thing I’d learned in life? You can’t trust people. And you especially can’t trust boys with wicked smiles and equally wicked intentions.”
Caroline Peckham, The Awakening

Other Zodiac Academy Reviews

Origins of an Academy Bully: Book 0.5

The Awakening: As Told By The Boys: Book 1.5

Ruthless Fae: Book 2

The Reckoning: Book 3

Shadow Princess: Book 4

Cursed Fates: Book 5

The Big A.S.S. Party: Book 5.5

About The Book

Author: Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Publisher: Dark Ink

Published Date: July 13th, 2019

Page Count: 436 Pages

Main Genre: Fantasy

GoodReads Rating: 3.84

Format: E-Book

“He was dangerous in all the right ways and I knew without doubt that the fire in his eyes would burn me up if I strayed too close.”
Caroline Peckham, The Awakening

Synopsis

You have been selected to attend Zodiac Academy, where your star sign defines your destiny.

If you’re one of the Fae, elemental magic is in your blood. And apparently it’s in ours. As twins born in the month of Gemini, we’re a rare breed even in this academy of supernatural a-holes.

Changelings were outlawed hundreds of years ago but I guess our birth parents didn’t get the memo. Which means we’re totally unprepared for the ruthless world of Fae.

Air. Fire. Water. Earth.

No one has ever harnessed all four of them, until we arrived. And it hasn’t made us any friends so far.

As the rarest Elementals ever known, we’re already a threat to the four celestial heirs; the popular, vindictive bullies who happen to be some of the hottest guys we’ve ever seen. It doesn’t help that they’re the most dangerous beasts in the Academy. And probably on earth too.

Our fates are intertwined, but they want us gone. They’ve only got until the lunar eclipse to force us out and they’ll stop at nothing to succeed.

We never knew we had a birthright to live up to but now that we do, we intend to claim our throne.

We can’t expect any help from the faculty when it comes to defending ourselves. So if the dragon shifters want some target practice, the werewolves want someone to hunt or the vampires fancy a snack then we have to be ready. But we’ve been looking after each other for a long time and fighting back is in our blood.

Today’s horoscope: totally screwed.

Synopsis From GoodReads

“My deepest fear is being cast aside, my heart crushed by trusting blindly again. So I’ll never let anyone in again.”
Caroline Peckham, The Awakening

Rating

Review

In no way was this book perfect. I found many grammatical errors and I am not someone who is really great with grammar in the first place, so it was clearly pretty obvious.

The writing was fun and kept me really engaged in the story line but I wouldn’t say the writing was good. I honestly struggled having the two girls POV’s as I definitely liked one more than the other and honestly I didn’t know the different between the two girls for half the book. Especially cause they have mortal names and Fae names which got used interchangeably.

With those main concerns out of the way I would like to point out that I had a great time reading this book! I think the world is fairly easy to grasp. It would be even easier if I, myself knew more about the zodiacs and star signs but even without that I can grasp the magic system which is great! I really love how each person gets an elemental power based on their Zodiac and a specific order based on their blood lines that comes with its own power. It does seem like a lot is going on in this magic system but not overly complicated.

I think the twins, Darcy and Tory, are decent characters, but honestly I am more interested in the outside characters such as the Heirs, Orion and even their friends Sofia and Diego. I think the girls have a ton of growing to do and I would just like to see more of the outside characters POV’s so I can better grasp what’s going on around us. I guess it is a good thing that we have many more books left to go in this series haha.

With what I mentioned above, there are so many characters to keep track of. Not only are you learning everyone’s names, you also have their star signs, order forms and elemental powers all thrown at you and it feels near impossible to remember all of this information. You do get reminded about them as the story goes but man oh man is it dumping a ton of info into our brains!

I feel like I can easily predict what is going to happen next in the books which I thought would bug me but honestly it is making the book move faster as I am excited to get to the plot twists. This is especially true with the love interests. I feel like I know exactly who these two are going to end up with but it is giving slow burn vibes all while trying to throw us off of that track. I am dying to get into the romance in this book but I can tell that the slow burn is going to pay off!

I feel like this review felt negative in nature but honestly I had a blast reading this book, so much so I finished it in two days! It reads really quickly and kept me engaged. The way the book ended had me dying to pick up the second book as well which I think are all good signs! If you can get past the not so great writing I think you’ll enjoy the book!

“Tears never did anyone any favours, but sometimes they just needed to fall.”
Caroline Peckham, The Awakening

QOTD: Have you read these books?

2024 Book Superlatives

2024 started off kind of rocky. I didn’t get my first 5 star read until April which had me a bit worried! However, the year ended strong with me reading 75 books and having 17 5 Star reads total! I am so happy with how my reading year went and I can’t wait to share my thoughts with you!

Heading into 2025, I have plans to be more active in posting my book reviews. This past year I took time to just enjoy reading and took a step back from posting content so I could focus on my mental health and overall enjoyment of my hobbies. Clearly, this step back really helped me as I read 20 more books this year than the last. I am excited to see where 2025 will take me.

Reading Stats

These stats are brought to you by StoryGraph! This is my favorite way to track my reading, if you would like to follow me my username is Bai_Books.

2024 Reading Goal

I planned on reading only 55 books this year, but I quickly surpassed this!

This is by far the most successful year yet!

So many pages!!! It’s wild!

I would love to read some longer books going into 2025. However, this seems like a good mix to me.

Every year I say I am going to read more non-fiction. However, This graph looks pretty similar to previous years.

Maybe 2025 will be my non-fiction era…Who knows?

I used to say that thrillers and mysteries were my favorite genre, I don’t think I can say that any longer. This makes me sad but I did read a lot of great romance books which changed my life.

I do think I had a decent mix of genres this year but I would love to see some of these other genres rise in ranks in the coming years. Mostly fantasy as I would like to dip my toe into this genre a bit further and step out of my comfort zone a bit more.

This year was the best for me format wise! I found my love for E-books this year and I foresee this section growing exponentially next year. Also, I would love to see more audiobooks next year as well, I plan on focusing on more of my hobbies in the new year so audiobooks will be great as background noise!

Jennifer Lynn Barnes really killed it this year! The Inheritance Games Series really sucked me in! She solidified herself as an all time favorite author for me!

I started to use a .25 rating system this year and I really enjoyed it! I do think I will go to a .50 system next year as my tracking sheet on google docs will only calculate .50 and not the .25 and that’s ok! I like being able to have more options than just a flat number rating as books don’t always fit into those categories for me.

Top 10 Books

As mentioned above, I read 17 5 star books but some of my first top ten will be my 4.5 Star reads. I read a lot of manga and graphic novels which made it in my 5 star reads this year so they will be getting their own category. Also I rate my books on vibes so my Top 10 books are all ones that really stuck with me!

10th Place

9th Place

8th Place

7th Place

6th Place

5th Place

4th Place

3rd Place

2nd Place

2024 Book Of The Year

Play Along

By Liz Tomforde

Full Book Review

Top 5 Manga

5th Place

4th Place

3rd Place

2nd Place

2024 Manga Book of The Year

Creepy Cat Volume 1

By Cotton Valent

Additional Awards

Best Series

This series was everything I have ever wanted! The men in this series are all god tier!

All books were 5 stars!

Best Re-Read

I re-read both Fourth Wing and Iron Flame this year and I fell in love with them all over again. I picked up on new things especially in Iron Flame that really brought my enjoyment up! I originally rated this book 4 Stars but after my re-read the rating went up to 5 Stars!

Lowest Rated Book

I didn’t have high hopes for this novella and I was right to think that. Where was the Christmas?

Most Disappointing Book

I had such high hopes for this book but I ended up DNF’ing this book along with many of my fellow book club members.

Most Surprising Book

I never wanted to read this series but I devoured this book in two days….

It doesn’t have the best writing but it kept me interested and left me wanting to know more.

2024 Book Boyfriend

Isaiah Rhodes is a King! I will marry him right here, right now!

Prettiest Cover

This is a poetry book that I absolutely adored! The cover is simple but gorgeous!

Spiciest Book

This is a Why Choose Hockey Romance… Enough said…

An Overhyped Book

This book was just not for me… Everyone on Booktok Hyped up this book saying “OMG, The candy cane scene!” Let me save you some time… The candy cane scene was all of two seconds and wasn’t that crazy…

A Book I Wished I Had Read

This is a prequel to Legends and Lattes which was one of my favorite books of 2023. I am so sad I didn’t pick this one up but I feel like it is due to me being worried it won’t be nearly as good as the first…

Favorite Quotes

“Sugar, you deserve to go out on your own terms. Just because you got dusted doesn’t mean you’re done.”
Lyla Sage, Done and Dusted

“You’ve never gotten a say in your own life, and the last thing I’m going to do is take that away from you again. Every option is yours, Kenny. Whatever you want to do, I will be your biggest supporter. But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t allow you the space to fulfill your goals, to live up to everything you’ve worked so hard for.”
Liz Tomforde, Play Along

“If you ever decide to stop running and make a home…” His eyes are begging, pleading. “Make it with me.”
Liz Tomforde, Caught Up

“This is practically a how-to manual on how to please a woman. How are more men not reading these?”
Liz Tomforde, The Right Move

“Being vulnerable and authentic is scary, man. Terrifying. But to the people who matter to you, the ones you’ve shown your true self to, they love you unconditionally. Why not let others love you unconditionally too? At least give them a chance to.”
Liz Tomforde, Mile High

This was an amazing year for reading for me. I truly fell back in love with this hobby due to the social media and blog posting break I took. I hope to come out swinging next year and to hopefully create more content. Thank you 2024 for being a great year for me and my favorite Hobby.

Book Review: “Done and Dusted” By Lyla Sage

Lyla Sage is a local Slat Lake City Author and I was lucky enough to go to her book release party for her third book “Lost and Lassoed” at the beginning of November. Because I had tickets to this event I knew I had to read her first book, even luckier, my book club picked this book for our November book club pick and honestly we all had an amazing time reading it!

Join my Book Club Bai’s Reading Corner! We read one book a month and have chapter discussions Via Fable, Weekly Reading sprints and a Live Discussion on Instagram! You can join the Instagram Here or our Fable Book Club Here. Hope to see you!

“Wes?” I called. “Yeah?” “You didn’t ask me why I came home.” “I don’t care why you’re here, only that you are.”
Lyla Sage, Done and Dusted

About The Book

Author: Lyla Sage

Publisher: Dial Press

Published Date: June 6th, 2023

Page Count: 346 Pages

Main Genres: Romance

GoodReads Rating: 3.87

Format: Physical and Audio

“Sugar, you deserve to go out on your own terms. Just because you got dusted doesn’t mean you’re done.”
Lyla Sage, Done and Dusted

Synopsis

For the first time in her life, Clementine “Emmy” Ryder has no idea what she’s doing. She’s accomplished everything on her to-do list. She left her small hometown of Meadowlark, Wyoming; went to college; and made a career for herself by doing her favorite thing: riding horses. But after an accident makes it impossible for her to get back into the saddle, she has no choice but to return to the hometown she always wanted to escape.

Luke Brooks is Meadowlark’s most notorious bad boy, bar owner, and bachelor. He’s also the unofficial fifth member of the Ryder family. As Emmy’s older brother’s best friend, Luke spent most of his childhood antagonizing her. It’s been years since he’s seen her, but when she walks into his bar and back into his life, he can’t take his eyes off her. Despite his better judgment, he wants to do a whole lot more than just look at her.

Emmy’s got too much on her mind to think about romance. And Luke knows he should stay away from his best friend’s younger sister. But what if Luke is just what Emmy needs to get her spark back? Or will they both go up in flames?

“Sometimes, it was just easier for me to live under the piles rather than face what might be in them. It wasn’t logical, but my brain didn’t really work normally.”
Lyla Sage, Done and Dusted

Rating

“I couldn’t believe the universe was so big, and I got placed on this random floating rock at the same time as Clementine Ryder.”
Lyla Sage, Done and Dusted

Review

I read Done and Dusted twice over the span of a month. The first time was via physical book where I marked all my favorite quotes directly and then the second time was via Audio book where I followed along in the physical copy and took notes to prepare for my Live discussion for my Book Club.

I loved the book just as much the second time around and I am so glad I gave the audio a listen because the narrators were so good!

I want to remind everyone that I rate books on the vibe I feel after I have finished them. So me giving this book a five star rating in no way means this was a perfect book, it was just a perfect book for me at the time of reading it.

This book was a really fast paced read for me, in fact I read it in only a few sittings my first time around while the audio I finished in a few hours. What made this book such a quick read was the character dynamics. I really loved each character and how they connected to each other. You didn’t need their full background to understand the relationships between any of the characters in the book.

The friendship Emmy and Teddy had was seamless and so well done! She knew Emmy inside out and could anticipate Emmy’s needs before she could even voice them. When Emmy needed her the most she was right by her side no questions asked. I firmly believe that we all could use a friend like Teddy.

The Sibling Relationships between Emmy, Wes and Gus just made sense, she’s their baby sister so of course they are fiercely over protective of her. Their family is all just so close that no one batted an eye when she came home and just helped her get settled in. Sure, Gus may have had a few questions but what Older brother wouldn’t?

The spice in this book was top tier for me. It may have not been the spiciest book I have ever read but it sure made me feel some sort of way! I could feel their chemistry straight out of the gate but throw in some spice and their relationship was on fire!

I love Luke Brooks with all my heart. He has made it to my top five Book Boyfriends which is a true accomplishment with the amount of romance I have been reading lately. Luke never doubted Emmy and helped her find trust in herself again. He wasn’t nearly as over protective as her brothers but damn that bar scene… A little protectiveness never hurt no one!

I had two issues with this book and lets not really call them issues.

Small Spoilers Ahead

1. I would have liked more background info into Emmy from before she came back to Meadowlark. We know she had a riding accident which shook her confidence with her career. We also know that her Ex was a bit of a walking read flag, I mean who orders their girlfriend a steak knowing she doesn’t eat red meat and just tells her to try it… no! But I would have liked to know more about her ex and ultimately what made her break up with him via post it. It may have not been too important to the plot but I kept waiting for more trauma to come out about this I guess.

2. This is a cowboy romance and I felt like by the time we got to the end of the book she was back to racing like a pro but we hardly got any horse riding.. We had way more riding of another sort which I loved don’t get me wrong… But I would have liked to see more of her progression towards being able to get past her mental block and beat her own record. I know these books don’t have to be realistic but it just didn’t feel too believable to me.

Ok, the last thing I want to Highlight is the ADHD rep! Finding out Lyla Sage has ADHD made so much sense because she nailed what it felt like to be ADHD with sensory issues. I am not sure i have read another book with ADHD representation before this and if I have I clearly didn’t relate to it nearly as much as I did with this book. I am so grateful to see this done so well in a book I love so dearly. So, Thank you, Lyla Sage for putting Emmy out into the world.

“I know being diagnosed with ADHD looks different for all of us, but if you’ve ever had a hard time explaining why you leave literally everything until the last minute, why you feel out of control, why your tongue feels like it doesn’t belong in in your mouth when the music is too loud, or any of the countless other things we feel that are apart of ADHD, you might see yourself in Done and Dusted.”
Lyla Sage, Done and Dusted

QOTD: Lyla said at her release party for Lost and Lassoed that their was originally 5 books planned for this series, we are only getting four. Who do you think the 5th book was going to be about?

My Thoughts: I feel like it was going to be Amos Ryder, Emmy’s Dad. I get not writing this book as I feel like Amos is so in love with his wife even though she passed so long ago, that all he needs is his kids and the ranch.