L-L-L-Little Reviews #71: January 2025

Here are the books I read this past month that were not part of scheduled reviews!

No Place Left to Hide by Megan Lally

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

No Place Left to Hide by Megan Lally
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on January 7, 2025
Genres: YA Thriller
Pages: 259
Source: the publisher
Format: ARC
Goodreads
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My Rating:

Some secrets just won't stay hidden in this twisty new thriller from New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Megan Lally!
To Brooke, image is everything. She works hard to maintain perfect grades, perfect looks, a perfect life—especially after "the incident" that threatened it all. Getting into her dream university puts her that much closer to a fresh start. How can she say no to celebrating with all her classmates?
Hanging out with her crush by the bonfire is the perfect end to the night. Except it isn't the end. An old truck starts aggressively tailing Brooke and her best friend on the isolated road toward home. Someone thinks they know the truth about "the incident," and they won't stop until it's all out in the open. This terrifying drive is about to bring out Brooke's worst fears…if she survives it.

My Review:

Honestly, this was a really good book, especially if you are a fan of unreliable narrator thrillers. It made me think of the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer for one thing. I know my students will love the thrilling suspense and twist of the story at the end. Personally I had a feeling about one or more things that ended up happening, not that it was played out poorly, just again because I had an inkling. My not giving it a 5 stars like I gave the other book by this author had more to do with my own preferences in stories and characters, and I won’t say what the specific issue for me was, because I think anyone who loves a good thriller or the movie I mentioned will really like this one!

The Night in Lover’s Bay (Love and Wanderlust #0.5) by Liz Alden

The Night in Lover's Bay by Liz Alden
Series: Love and Wanderlust #0.5
Published by Amazon Digital Services on April 29, 2023
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 79
Source: Amazon Freebie
Format: eBook
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My Rating:

A disenchanted superyacht chef and a hunk of a deckhand. Will a hot night between the sheets cure wanderlust?
I expected this job to be perfect—fancy tasting menus while schmoozing elite clientele and island hopping in the Caribbean.
Instead, we’re stuck in Antigua, with nothing but boat work.
I accidentally saw my coworker naked on my first day.
And I can’t stop thinking about him.
When the yacht gets sidelined, will the building tension crash over me, or will I escape and find the adventure I’m looking for?
The Night in Lover’s Bay is a prequel with a to-be-continued ending for the Love and Wanderlust series. These contemporary romances are full of steamy nights between two travelers, perfect to feed your wanderlust.

My Review:

Okay, so yes, I knew it was a novella, and a prequel. But I was not prepared to be left quite so hanging at the end of it. That’s my own fault. However, it was definitely a good story and it makes me want to read on! From what I can tell about the synopsis of book 1 in the series, which I do have a freebie copy of that as well, it will be about one of the characters we kind of barely met in this one, not the couple from this book. And it seems I’ll be waiting till the 3rd book to get Marcella and Seb’s story from this novella. Although it sounds like that book will be only 6 months after this one, so that is good? Anyway, a fun quick read at only 79 pages. My first book by Liz Alden who I’ve been wanting to read for a while!

Betting On You by Lynn Painter

Betting on You by Lynn Painter
Narrator: Jesse Vilinsky, Zachary Webber
on November 28, 2023
Genres: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 11:44
Source: the library
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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My Rating:

11 hours, 44 minutes
From the New York Times bestselling author of Better than the Movies, this swoon-worthy rom-com in the vein of She’s All That and 10 Things I Hate About You follows a teen girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of a bet while working at a waterpark.
When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on the long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip.
Now, Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out and gossiping about the waterpark guests and their coworkers—particularly two who keep flirting with each other. Bailey and Charlie make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong.
Bailey and Charlie keep close track of the romantic progress of others while Charlie works to deflect the growing feelings he’s developed for Bailey. Terrified to lose her if his crush becomes known, what doesn’t help his agenda is Bailey and Charlie “fake dating” in order to disrupt the annoying pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her mom’s new boyfriend. Soon, what Charlie was hoping to avoid becomes a reality as Bailey starts to see him as not only a friend she can rely on in the midst of family drama—but someone who makes her hands shake and heart race. But Charlie has a secret—a secret that involves Bailey and another bet Charlie may have made. Can the two make a real go of things…or has Charlie’s secret doomed them before they could start?

My Review:

This was one I should have had read before the Gateway possible nominee vote. I might have fudged a bit and went ahead and gave it 5 stars on the ballot even though I hadn’t read it yet, when normally I just skip the ones I haven’t read. But I knew, and I was completely right that I would LOVE this one. And it is more than just a YA romance. The characters are dealing with divorced parents and how that affects them, and also how it feels when their parents start dating other people or get married, etc. As I mentioned with the adult title, Accidentally Amy, that I just read and reviewed, the banter that Painter writes is sooooooooo good! It made me smile, laugh out loud, and I just adored it! I also loved that the mom in the story was a KC Chiefs fan. Now, at one point towards the beginning, the mom was saying she was a Bobby Vinton fan, and honestly, I think most people with teenage daughters these days are around my age, and Bobby Vinton was before us. To me I’d think maybe Duran Duran or New Kids on the Block, someone from the 80s would be more fitting. I totally at one point was thinking of all the ways I would be so petty and what I would say to Charlie in that third act breakup that was sooooooooo perfectly done and necessary. The whole grand gesture was perfect though, and oh my gosh, I loved all the parts of the story with Puffball the kitten and Charlie. I loved, loved, loved this book! I already bought it for my school library before I got to read it, and now I can’t wait to share it, hand promote it, for my students! Which reminds me I need to do my favorite reads of the past year display at school again!

The Exception to the Rule (The Improbable Meet Cute #1) by Christina Lauren

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren
Series: The Improbable Meet-Cute #1
Narrator: Marli Watson, Andrew Gibson
Published by Amazon Original Stories on January 23, 2024
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Length: 01:56
Source: Purchased
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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My Rating:

1 hour, 56 minutes
On February 14, an accidental email to a stranger opens the door to an unexpected relationship in a captivating short story by the New York Times bestselling authors of The Unhoneymooners.
One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance. Wishing each other a happy Valentine’s Day isn’t the end. In fact, it becomes a friendly annual tradition—with rules: no pics, no real names, nothing too personal. As years pass, the rules for their email “dates” are breaking, and they’re sharing more than they imagined—including the urge to ask…what if we actually met?
Christina Lauren’s The Exception to the Rule is part of The Improbable Meet-Cute, irresistibly romantic stories about finding love when and where you least expect it. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.

My Review:

So I actually bought these e-books on Amazon a year ago? I also bought the collection on Audible for a deal shortly after that too. So when I was in between review books for audiobooks and was having trouble getting into the one for the read-along, I started this one. It is obviously a short and sweet listen and I loved this mostly epistolary style novel, told through emails till the very end. I adored it! And loved the actual in person meet cute after the email meet cute at the beginning of the story. Definitely the perfect story to start these off with!

Lucky Shot (Brooklyn #4.5) by Sarina Bowen

Lucky Shot by Sarina Bowen
Series: Brooklyn #4.5
Published by Tuxbury Publishing LLC on July 6, 2020
Genres: Adult Sports Romance
Pages: 29
Source: the author
Format: eBook
Goodreads
My Rating:

Nine years ago, a rookie sports agent met the man of her dreams at a business dinner. That was the night they broke all the rules…
Lucky Shot is a free short story. Enjoy it as is, or go on to read the rest of Bess & Tank’s second chance love story in Sure Shot.

My Review:

This was a short story, I thought from Amazon, but maybe not? Maybe it was a download from the author? Anyway, a really short story. Like only 3 or 4 chapters? Left hanging? But not in a bad way, just in a very basic, okay, now where is the full story way? I would have to pick up the book in the series that this goes with. And I hope to do that some day. I sat and read this one very quickly in the waiting room while my mom was getting her eye exam this past month.

Worst Wingman Ever (The Improbable Meet Cute #2) by Abby Jimenez

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez
Series: The Improbable Meet-Cute #2
Narrator: Andi Arndt, Zachary Webber
Published by Amazon Original Stories on January 23, 2024
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Length: 01:17
Source: Purchased
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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My Rating:

1 hour, 17 minutes
They’re falling in love, yet they’ve never met. Maybe fate can intervene in a heartwarming “what-if” short story about new beginnings by the New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly.
Holly is dealing with the impending death of her grandmother and still reeling from a bad breakup. One bright spot: a Valentine’s Day card on Holly’s windshield—even if it wasn’t meant for her. An amusing mistake soon turns into a lovely exchange of anonymous notes, little acts of kindness, and a growing affection between two strangers. What happens when one of them has to say goodbye?
Abby Jimenez’s Worst Wingman Ever is part of The Improbable Meet-Cute, irresistibly romantic stories about finding love when and where you least expect it. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Let’s make a date of it.

My Review:

Another winner as part of The Improbable Meet Cute series of novellas. Another author I am loving, Abby Jimenez. In a way had an epistolary aspect as the two only connected through some notes left on a car. However the story itself was told like a normal story with the two characters. I almost wasn’t able to listen though, as the storyline about Holly’s grandmother being in hospice and close to death brought up some feelings from last year with my stepdad, but I know I’ve got to move on because there are things that make me think of that everywhere now. In the end I loved the story, the meet cute, the coincidences that brought them together, all of it. Can’t wait to go on, but it will wait till I no longer have some of the audiobooks I’ve got from the library that keep becoming available.

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
Narrator: Joshua Jackson, Emily Ellet
Published by Forever on January 30, 2024
Genres: Adult Sports Romance
Length: 10:30
Source: the library
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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My Rating:

10 hours, 30 minutes
Once upon a time teenage Aurora Evans met a hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. And soon, he was the perfect fake boyfriend, a get-out-of-jail-free card for all kinds of sticky situations. I can't go to prom. I'm going to be visiting my boyfriend in Canada. He was just what she needed to cover her social awkwardness. He never had to know. It wasn't like she was ever going to see him again…
Years later, Aurora is teaching kids’ dance classes and battling panic and eating disorders—souvenirs from her failed ballet career—when pro hockey player Mike Martin walks in with his daughter. Mike’s honesty about his struggles with widowhood helps Aurora confront some of her own demons, and the two forge an unlikely friendship. There’s just one problem: Mike is the boy she spent years pretending was her “Canadian boyfriend.”
The longer she keeps her secret, the more she knows it will shatter the trust between them. But to have the life she wants, she needs to tackle the most important thing of all—believing in herself.

My Review

Okay, I LOVED this book! It was sooooooo good! The characters were great, the storyline was great, the narrators too were great! There was so much more than just romance. Both characters had back story issues that they were working on, both did seek therapy in the book, but also were able to work through some of the issues with each other there as a friend. It was funny how the author had Aurora always say his whole name, “Mike Martin” every time she thought about him, based on him being her imaginary boyfriend from when she was a teenager. I thought that totally made the story, even when it was a little annoying, lol. My only real complaint was that even though I knew what was going to be the third act break up reason, I thought it was totally ridiculous for him to be that upset about it. I don’t care how much it fed into his own issues, it was a stupid thing to get that mad about. And so in the end, the way it all came back together was done very well, but I still had to drop it to 4.5 stars.